;:'i
FROM THE LIBRARY OF
REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON. D. D.
BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO
THE LIBRARY OF
PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Dlrlaion *^ /^ /-"
A HISTORY
^N OF PR//vJ^
APR 8 1932
OF THE
BAPTIST CHURCHES
IN THE UNITED STATES
A. H. NEWMAN, D.D., LL.D.
rROFKSSOR OF CHURCH HISTORY, McMASTER UNIVtRSlTY, TORONTO.
0-
Revised Edition
American Baptist Publication Society,
1420 Chestnut Street,
[PHILADELPHIA.
1S2 Fifth Avenue, 256 Washington Street, 177 Wabash Avenue,
New Yoi;k. Boston. Chicago.
516 N. Eighth Street, 279 Elm Street, 9J Whhehall Street,
St. Louis, Dallas. Atlanta.
MDCCCXCVIII.
Copyright, 1894 and 1898,
By The Christian Literature Company.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Introduction. — Distinctive Principles. — Relation to other Bodies.
— Ancient Perversions of Baptism. — Other Ancient Perversions. — •
Medieval Antipedobaptists. — Medieval Evangelical Life. — The An-
abaptists.— The Zwickau Prophets. — The Swiss Anabaptists. — An-
abaptists of Silesia, Austria, and Augsburg. — Anabaptists of Strass-
burg and Hesse. — Moravian Anabaptists. — Chiliastic Anabaptists.
— Munster Kingdom. — The Mennonites. — Italian and Polish ■
Anabaptists. — Remarks. — English General Baptists. — General Bap-
tists.— Particular Baptists i
PERIOD I.
FROM THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH IN
AMERICA TO THE GREAT AWAKENING (1639-I740).
CHAP. I. — Roger Williams and Liberty of Conscience 59
CHAP. II. — Roger Williams and the First Baptist Church in
America. — Williams and the Providence Baptists. — Arminianism
and Laying on of Hands. — Thomas Olney. — William Wickenden. —
Gregory Dexter. — Chad Brown . 79
CHAP. III. — John Clarke and the Baptists of Newport. — Set-
tlement of Rhode Island. — Providence Plantations. — Clarke and
Liberty of Conscience. — Clarke as .Counselor and Agent. — The
New Charter of 1663. — Clarke as a Baptist. — Holmes, Lukar, and
Weeden. — William Peckham. — Comer Accepts Imposition of
Hands. — Six Principle Associations 9^
CHAP. IV. — Baptists in Massachusetts to 1652. — New England
Puritanism. — The Antinomian Controversy. — Baptists Misunder-
stood.— Witter and Painter. — Law against Baptists. — Unfounded
Charges. — Zeal in Persecution. — Chauncy's Antipedobaptism. —
Newport Baptists at Lynn. — Clarke's Defense 1 18
V'i CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAP. V. — President Henry Dunster and the Baptists. — Dun-
ster in New England. — President of Harvard. — Oriental Studies. —
Rejects Infant Baptism. — Mitchell's Experiences. — Proceedings
against Dunster. — Conference on Infant Baptism. — A Humble Pe-
tition.— Prosecution, or Persecution ? — Invited to Dublin. — Dun-
ster's Death and Will 139
CHAP. VI. — Baptist Churches in Massachusetts to 1740. — First
Baptist Church of Wales. — Myles a Tester. — Myles Holds a Bene-
fice.— Swansea Exclusiveness. — A New Pastor Wanted. — Act for
Support of Ministers. — First Baptist Church of Boston. — Confes-
sion of Faith. — A Disputation. — Thirty Years of Progress. — The
Half-way Covenant. — Intolerance Rebuked. — Persecution Con-
tinues.— Mitigation of Persecution. — Charles II. Rebukes Intoler-
ance.— The Meeting-house Closed. — Baptists Tolerated. — Hollis's
Benefactions. — Comer's Death 162
CHAP. VII. — Baptists in Pennsylvania and the Jerseys. — Penn
and Pennsylvania. — Pennepek and Piscataqua. — Cohansey and Phil-
adelphia.-— The Keithian, Quakers. — Mennonites and Dunkards. —
Philadelphia Association. — Queries Answered. — A Dearth of Pas-
tors 200
CHAP. VHI. — The First Baptists of Maine, South Carolina,
Virginia, North Carolina, Connecticut, and New York. —
Screven's Ordination. — Persecution at Kittery. — Screven Goes to
Carolina. — Early Baptists of Carolina. — Religious Destitution. —
Screven's Last Days. — Virginia Excludes Dissent. — Early Baptists
of Connecticut. — Wickenden at Flushing. — First Churches of New
York 216
PERIOD II.
from the great awakening to the organization of the
triennial convention (1740-1814).
CHAP. I. — New England. — The Great Awakening. — The New
Lights. — Separates Become Baptists. — Isaac Backus. — Backus Be-
comes a Baptist. — A Mixed Church. — First Church, Providence. —
First Church, Newport. — Second Church, Boston. — Hezekiah
Smith. — Brown University. — Tlie Warren Association. — Baptists
in New Hampshire. — Vermont and Maine. — Statistics 239
CHAP. IL — The Philadelphia Center. — The Philadelphia Asso-
ciation.— Records Cellectcd. — A Baptist College Proposed. — Ed-
wards, Jones, and Morgan. — New York.— New York Association. . 272
CHAP. III. — Virginia and North Carolina. — Virginia. — The Ke-
tokton Association. — General Baptist Churches. — The Kehukee
CONTEXTS. VU
PACE
Association. — Marshall and Stearns. — Sandy Creek Association. —
The Association Di.ssolved. — Arminianisni. — Philadelphia Confes-
sion Adopted. — Rapid Increase. — Protest against Slavery. — Prog-
ress in North Carolina 284
CHAP. IV. — South CarolIxNA and Georgia. — Oliver Hart. — Charles-
ton Association. — Richard Furman. — Settlement of Georgia. —
Daniel Marshall. — The Georgia Association. — Henry Holcombe. —
The Powelton Conference. — Christian Union. — A Circular Ad-
dress.— ^The General Committee. — Colored Baptists 308
CHAP. V. — Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Mis-
souri, Mississipri, AND Louisiana. — Regulars and Separates. —
Middle Tennessee. — A German Church. — Illinois. — Missouri. —
Mississippi and Louisiana t,^t^
CHAP. VI. — Struggles for Civil and Religious Liberty in New
England. — A Threatened Appeal. — Oppression at Ashfield. — An
Appeal for Liberty. — Massachusetts Praises Toleration. — Confer-
ence in Philadelphia. — Manning's Memorial. — A New Constitution.
— Liberty in Massachusetts, 1833 347
CHAP. VII. — The Struggle for Liberty of Conscience in Vir-
ginia.— Prayer for Persecutors. — Marriage Law. — Repeal of In-
corporating Act. — Washington and the Baptists. — Jefferson and the
Baptists 365
PERIOD III.
from the organization of the triennial convention to
THE present time (1814-1894).
CHAP. I. — Retrospect and Prospect. — Early Educational Ef-
forts.— Illiterate Preachers. — Early Missionary Societies. — The Ad-
vance Movement
CHAP. II. — The Triennial Convention (1814-45). — Conversion
of the Judsons. — The News Reaches America. — General Conven-
tion.— Ministerial Education. — Home Mission Work. — Columbian
College. — Restriction of Effort. — State Conventions. — New Eng-
land Conventions. — Education in South Carolina. — Education in
New York. — Education in Georgia. — Illinois and North Carolina.
— Education in Virginia. — Indiana and Kentucky Colleges 388
CHAP. III. — The Triennial Convention, Continued. — Home Mis-
sions.— Religious Newspapers. — Newspapers and Reviews. —
Baptist Tract Society. — Baptists Protest. — Bible Controversies. —
End of Bible Controversy. — Anti-effort Baptists. — Opposition to
Missions. — Causes of Opposition. — Progress Notwhhstanding .... 419
379
viii COXTEXTS.
PAGE
CHAP. IV. — The Southern Baptist Convextion. — Fuller and
Wayland on Slavery. — Southern Dissatisfaction. — Division Inevi-
table.— Southern Baptist Convention. — Cooperation with other So-
cieties.— Home Mission Board. — The Cuban Mission. — Mountain
Work. — Foreign Mission Work.— " Omissionary " Baptists. — The
Colored Baptists. — Theological Seminary 443
CHAP. V. — Northern, National, and Lnternational Societies,
AND Educational Institutions (1845-94). — Missionary Union.
— Foreign Missions. — Home Missions.- — Publication Society. —
Education Society. — Historical Society, and Congress. — Education . 46.S
CHAP. VI. — Divisions and Parties, and Concluding Remarks.
— The Seventh-day Baptists. — The Disciples. — Baptists and Dis-
ciples.— Old-Landmarkism. — Free-will Baptists. — The Christians.
— Other Baptist Parties 484
A HISTORY OF
THE BAPTISTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
ALBERT HENRY NEWMAN, D.D., LL.D.,
Professor of Chirch History in McMaster Um\ersitv, Toronto, Canada.
CORRECTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS.
r. 50. I am informed that in some article unknown
to me Dr. W, H. Whitsitt had set forth the facts
regarding Mark Lukar.
Pp. 62-69. Since the pubhcation of the volume I
have had my attention called to an act of the Massachu-
setts Council (1676) rescinding the decree of banishment
against Roger Williams. Recognition is made of his
services to the colony in the Indian war, and his friendly
bearing in general, and it is declared that " he shall have
liberty to repayre into any of our Towns for his security
and Comfortable abode during these Public Troubles,
He behaving himself peaceably and inoffensively and not
disseminating and venting any of his different opinions
in matters of religion to the dissatisfaction of any."
P. 80. The foot-note, though correct in form, possibly
puts the case with undue dogmatism. The fact is, that
only one contemporary (William Coddington) refers to
the form of Williams's baptism. Coddington writing
long afterward (1677) accuses Williams of at one time
maintaining that " men and women must be plunged
into the water." This could apply only to the short
time that he remained in connection with the Providence
Baptist Church that he founded. Coddington was at
Newport in 1639, and may be presumed to have been
cognizant of the particulars of the new baptism intro-
duced at Providence. Other notices from the writings
of Williams himself and his contemporaries are non-com-
mittal. This question has recently been fully discussed
by Dr. W. H. Whitsitt, who thinks immersion improb-
able (" A Question in Baptist History," Louisville, Ky.,
1896, pp. 147 seq.), and by Dr. H. M. King, who states
exhaustively the case in favor of immersion (" The Bap-
tism of Roger Williams," Providence, 1897).
P. 218. The records of the First Baptist Church,
Boston, recently examined by the present pastor. Dr.
N. E. Wood, show that Screven was baptized there in
1681. He was not therefore the Scriven that signed the
Somerset Confession in 1656.
P. 235. The statement regarding the solitariness of
the Block Island Baptist Church is not quite accurate.
X
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
The literature on the antipedobaptist movements of the medieval and Ref-
ormation times is too voluminous to be here given. A selection of a few of
the more important works bearing upon the history of English Baptists is all
that seems practicable. Most of the works referred to in the Bibliography
of vol. iii. of the present series are of interest to the student of Baptist
history. Colonial records are among the most valuable sources. For the
later period, files of denominational newspapers and magazines, minutes of
Associations, reports of denominational societies, State and national, and
controversial pamphlets may be consulted with profit. Morton's " New Eng-
land's Memorial"; Lechford's " Plain Dealing"; Winslow's "Good News
from New England " ; Willard's " A'c Suior ultra Crepidam " ; Uhden's " New
England Theocracy"; Chauncy's " Seasonable Thoughts " ; and Edwards's
works bearing on the Great Awakening, may be referred to in this brief way.
The treatises on Systematic Theology, by Drs. A. Hovey, A. H. Strong,
E. Dodge, E. H. Johnson, W. N. Clarke, J. P. Boyce, and E. G. Robinson,
may be referred to as illustrating the unity and variety of Baptist doctrinal
teaching. The controversial writings of Isaac Backus are too numerous to
be referred to individually, but are of primary importance.
I. English Baptist PIistory.
Barclay, Robert, The Inner Life of the Religions Societies of the Covnnon-
loealth. 3d ed., London, 1879.
Clifford, John (editor), Tlie English Baptists. London, 1881.
Crosby, Thomas, llie History of the English Baptists. 4 vols., London,
1738-1740-
Evans, B., The Early English Baptists. 2 vols., London, 1862.
Goadby, Thomas, By-paths 0/ Baptist History. London, 1871.
Gould, Geo., Open Co/nmunion and the Baptists of N'onvich. Norwich,
1 Sbo.
Ivimey, Joseph, .4 History of the English Baptists. 4 vols., London,
1811-1830.
Masson, David, Life of John Milton, and History of his Time. 6 vols.,
London, 1859-1880.
Publications of the Hanserd Alwllys Society. 10 vols., London, 1846 .f<v/.
Taylor, Adam, The History of the English General Baptists. 2 vols.,
London, 1818.
si
BIBLIOGRAPIIY.
II. English and American l!.\riisi- History.
Armitage, Thomas, A History of the Baptists. New York, 1887.
Benedict, David, A General History of the Baptist Denomination in
America and Other Parts of the IVorld. New York, 1848.
, Fifty Years among the Baptists. New York, i860.
Cook, R. B., Story of the Baptists. Baltimore, 1884.
Cramp, J. M., Baptist History. Pliiladelpliia.
Vedder, Henry C, Short History of the Baptists. Philadelphia, 1892.
III. American Baptist History.
Adlam, S., Origin of the Institutions of Rhode Island. Providence, 1871.
Allen, I. M., I he i'nited .States Baptist Annual I\\gister and Almanac.
Phihidclphia, 1833.
Arnold, S. G., History of the State of Rhode Is/and. Vol. i., New York,
1859.
Asplund, John, The Universal Register of the Baptist Denomination in
A'orth Anienca, for the Years I'/go, ijgi, Jjgs, lygj, and part of /"/g^.
Boston, 1794.
Babcock, R., Memoir of J. M. Peck. Philadelphia, 1864.
Backus, Isaac, A History of A\'io England. With Particular Reference
to the Denomination of Christians called Baptists. 2d ed., with Notes
by D. Weston. 2 vols. Newton, 1871.
Baptist Home Missions in A-orth America, 18J2-1S82. New York, 1883.
Barrows, C. E., Historical Sketch of the First Baptist Church, A^ewport,
R. I. Newport, 1876.
, The Development of Baptist Principles in Rhode Island. Philadel-
phia.
Bitting, C. C, Bible Societies and the Baptists. Philadelphia, 1883.
Boykin, S., Memoir of Adiel Shenvood, D.D. Philadelphia, 1884.
Broaddus, A. (Jr.), The Sermons and Other Writings of the Rev. Andrew
Broaddus. 1 1 'ith a Memoir of his Life 'by J. B. Jeter, D. D. New York,
Colby, 1852.
Broadus, J. A., Memoir of J. P. Boyce. New York, 1893.
Brown, J. N., History of the American Baptist Publication Society [1824-
1856]. Philadelphia.
Burkitt, Lemuel, and Read, Jesse, A. Concise History of the K'ehukee
Baptist .Issociation. Revised ed., Philadelphia, 1850.
Burrage, Henry S., A History of the Baptists in AVw England. Phila-
delphia, 1894.
, Baptist Ilymn-ivriters and their Hvmns. Portland, 1888.
, The Act of Baptism. Philadelphia, 1879.
Caldwell, S. M.", and Gammell, W., History of the First Baptist Church
in Providence, /6jg-/Syy. Providence, 1877.
Callender, John, An Historical Discourse on the Civil and Religious Affairs
of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providoice Plantations. Boston,
1739; reprinted with Notes by Elton, 1838.
Campbell, Alexander, The Christian Baptist [1822-1830]. Cincinnati,
1880.
, The Millennial Harbinger, iSjo-iSjo.
BrBLTOGRAPiry. xiit
Campbell, J. H., Georgia Baplisls. Macon, 1874.
Cathcart, W., The Baptist Enevr/opirdia. 2 vols., Pliiladt-lpliia, Everts,
iSSi.
, The Baptists and the Aiiierieaii Kevohitioii. I'hiladelpliia.
Chaplin, J,, Life of Henry Dunster. Boston, 1872.
Clarke, John, /// Newes from iVerv England ; or, A A'arrative of A'eio
Eiig/and^s Persecution. London, 1652; reprinted in "Collections
of the Massachusetts Historical Societv, " 4th series, vol. ii., Boston,
iS54.
Comer, John, The Diary of Philadelphia, 1892.
Cook, R. B., The Early and Later Delaware Baptists. Philadelphia, Am.
Bapt. I'ul). Soc, 1880.
Cox, F. A., and Hoby, J., The Baptists in America. New York, 1836.
Crane, C. B., I'irst Jniptist Church, Boston: Bi-Centenary Commemoration.
Boston, 1865.
Curry, J. L. M., Struggles and Triumphs of Virginia Baptists. Phila-
delphia, 1873.
Curtis, T. r., The Progress of Baptist Principles in the Last LIundred
Years. Boston, i860.
Cuthbert, J. H., Life of Dr. Richard Puller. New York, 1879.
Cutting, S. S., Historical Vindications. Boston, 1859.
Denison, F,, Azotes on the Baptists and their Principles in A^onvich, Conn.
N(jrwich, 1857.
Dexter, Henry M,, As to Roger Williams. Boston, 1876.
Duncan, R. S., ./ Histojy of the Baptists in Missouri. St. Louis, 1883.
Dunster, S., J/istoiy of the Dunster Painily. Boston, 1876.
Edwards, Morgan, Materials for a L/istory of the American Baptists:
Vol. i., JLaterials to7vards a History of the Baptists in L\njnsvli'ania, both
British and Ger/imn. Philadelphia, 1770. Vol. ii., Materials towanls
a History of tJte Baptists of Jersey. Philadelphia, 1792.
-, Materials for a History of the Baptists of Rhode Island. In " Rhode
Island Historical Collections," vok vi.
-, Materials tinvards a History of the Baptists in Delaware State.
Philadelphia, 1885.
Everts, W. W,, William Colgate. Philadelphia, 1881.
Furman, Wood, A History of the Charleston [S. C.] Association. Charles-
ton, iSii.
Gammell, W., Life of Roger Williams. Boston, 1844.
Guild, R. A., History of Bro%vn University. Providence, 1867.
, Life, Jouimals, Letters, and Addresses of the Rev. Hezekiah Smith,
D.D.', of Haverhill, Mass., 1737-1803. Philadelphia, 1885.
-, Life. Times, and Correspondence of James Manniiig. Boston, 1864.
'H.a.gw.e, William, An Historical Discou>se: . . . .Second Centennial An-
niversary of the Pirst Baptist Church in Providence, R. I. Providence,
1839.
IListory of the Baptist Denomination in Georgia. Compiled for the " Chris-
tian Index." Atlanta, 1881.
Holcombe, Henry, The Pirst-fruits. Philadelphia, 1812.
Holcombe, Hosea, .-/ History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in
Alalmma. Philadelphia, 1840.
Hovey, Alvah, A Memoir of the Life and Times of the Rev. Lsaac Backus,
A.M. Boston, 1859.
X i \' BIBLIO GKA PII \ :
Jeter, J. B., Caniphcllisni F.xamiiicd. New York, 1857.
, Caiiipbt'Uisni Recxainincd. New ^'ork, 1857.
, Life of Dcuiicl Witt.
Jones, H. G., Historical Sketch of the Louver Diihliii (or Peniiepek) Baptist
Church, Philadelphia, Pa. Alorrisiania, N. Y., 1869.
, History of the Po.xboroi/gh InTptist Chiircli of Philadelphia. Phila-
delphia, 1890.
Judson, E., 7'he Life of A don i ram Judsoii. New York, 1883.
King, A., Me/iioir of George Dana Boardiiiaii. Boston, 1834.
King-, Henry M., Early Baptists Defended. Boston, 1880.
Knight, R., LJistorv of the General or Six Principle Baptists. Providence,
1S27.
Knowles, J. D., ALenunr of Roger Williams. Bosttm, 1834.
Leland, John, Phe Rights of Conscience Liialienable. Richmond, 1793.
Lewis, A. H., ./ Critical History of .Sunday Legislation. New York, 1888.
-, A Critical History of the .Sabbath and the .Snndav in the Chi-istian
Church. Alfred Centre, N. Y., 1887.
, Biblical 7'eachin<'S Concen/i/n;- the Sabbath and the .Sunday. Alfred
Centre, N. Y., 1888.
L, if- of Spencer LLoughton Cone. New York, Livermore, 1856.
Lynd, S. W., Memoir of the Rev. William Staiighton. Boston, 1834.
Mallary, C. D., Memoirs of Elder Edmund Botsford. Charleston, 1832.
, Memoirs of Elder Jesse A/ercer. New York, 1844.
Mercer, Jesse, .-/ L/istory of the Georgia Baptist Association.
Minutes of the Philadelphia LnTptist Association from A.D. ijo-j to A.D. iSoy.
Philadelphia, 185 1.
Moss, Leninel (editor). The Baptists and the A'ational Centenary. Phila-
delphia, 1876.
Paxton, W. E., A Llistory of the Baptists of Louisiana. St. Louis, 1888.
Peck, J. M., " Father Clark^\- or, The Pioneer Preacher. New York, 1855.
Peck, John, and Lawton, John, An Lfistorical Sketch of the Bapti.d
Missionary Convention of the State of N'ew York. Utica, 1837.
Proceedings of the Baptist Convention for Missionary Purposes, held in Phila-
delphia in J\Lay, 1814. Philadelphia, 1814.
Proceedings of the Bible Convention, held at Saratoga, X. Y., Mav 22, 2j,
iSSj. Philadelphia.
Proceedings of the A'ational Baptist Lldueational Convention, iSjo and 18^2.
New York, 1870 and 1872.
Proceedings of the Seventh-day Baptist Council, held at Chicago, LIL, October
22— 2g, iSgo. With an Historical Sketch of American Seventh-day Baptist
Churches, and Expose of Faitli and L'ractice.
Publications of the A^arragansett Club [embracing the ^Yorks of Roger Wil-
liams, and John Cotton's Writings on liberty of conscience]. Provi-
dence, 1866-1874.
Records of the Colony of Rhode Lsland and Providence Plantations in A'ew
England. Vol. i., Providence, 1856.
Richardson, R., Memoirs of Alexander Campbell. 2 vols., Philadelphia,
1808-1870.
Russel, John, A Brief Narrative of Some Considerable Passages Concern-
ing the J'irst Gathering and L'ltrther Progress of a Church of Christ, in
Gospel Order, in Boston, in A^e-.o England, commonly (though falsely)
called by the name of Anabaptists. London, 1680.
BIBLIOGKArijy. XV
Sampey, J. R., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary [1859-1889.] Bal-
timore, 1890.
Semi-Centennial Celelration of the Rhode Island Baptist State Convention,
l\/ay 12, rSjj. Providence, 1875.
Semple, R. B., A History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Vir-
ginia. Richmond, 18 10; new ed., edited by G. W. Beale, Richmond,
Pitt & Dickinson, 1894.
Smith, J. A., Memoir of Rev. A'athaniel Colver. Boston, 1S75.
Smith, J. W., The Life of John P. Crozer. Philadelphia, i8b8.
Smith, S. F., Missionary Sketches. Boston, 1883.
Spencer, David, The Early Baptists of Philadelphia. Philadelphia, 1 87 7.
Stewart, I. D., Minutes of the General Conference of the Byee-7vill Baptist
Connection. 2 vols., Boston, 1887.
, The History of the Free-will Baptists. Vol. i., 1 780-1830. Dover,
1862.
Stockbridge, Z. G.., A Memoir of the Life and Correspondence of Rev.
Baron Stow. Boston, 1872 ; 2d ed., 1894.
Stone, E. M., Biography of I\ev. Elhanan Winchester. Boston, 1836.
Straus, Oscar S., Roger Williams, the Pioneer of Religious Liberty. New
^'ork, 1894.
Taylor, G. B., Life and limes of J. B. Taylor. Philadelphia, 1872.
Taylor, James B., Memoir of Rev. Luther Rice. Baltimore, 1840.
, Virginia Baptist I\Iinisters. 2 vols., Philadelphia, 1859.
The Centennial Record of the Free-7oill Baptists, I'/So-iSSo. Dover, 1881.
The First Century of the First Baptist Church of Richmond, Va., ijSo-iSSo.
Richmond, 1880.
The Lifa and Times of the Rev. James Ireland. Winchester, Va., 1819.
The Missionary Jubilee: An Account of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the
American Baptist Missionary Union. New York, 1869.
Thomas, David, The Virginian Baptist ; or, A View and Defense of the
Christian Religion as it is Professed by the Baptists of Virginia. JBalti-
more, Enoch Story, 1774.
True, B. O., Increase and Characteristics of Connecticut Baptists. Meri-
den, 18S7.
Tupper, H. A. (editor), A Decade of Foreign Missions, iSSo-iSgo. Rich-
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, Foreii^n Missions of the Southern Baptist Con7'ention. Richmond,
1880.
, Two Centuries of the First Baptist Church of South Carolina, i6Sj-
i8Sj. pjaltimore, 1889.
Vedder, H. C, Baptists and Liberty of Conscience. Cincinnati, 1884.
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Judson, D.D. 2 vols., Boston, 1853.
, Principles and Practices of the Baptists. New York, 1857.
Wayland, F. and H. L., A Memoir of the Life and Labors of Francis
Wayland. 2 vols., New York, 1868.
Williams, Roger, Christenings Make Not Christians. In " Rhode Ishmd
Historical Tracts," No. 14. Providence, 1881.
INTRODUCTION.
I. DISTINCTIVE PRINCIPLES OF THE BAPTISTS.
The name " Baptist " was not a self-chosen one. In
the early Reformation time those who withdrew from the
dominant churches because of the failure of these churches
to discriminate between the church and the world, between
the regenerate and the unregenerate, and who sought to
organize churches of believers only, laid much stress on
the lack of Scriptural warrant for the baptism of infants
and on the incompatibility of infant baptism with regenerate
membership. Following what they believed to be apostolic
precept and example, they made baptism on a profession
of faith a condition of church-fellowship. This rejection
of infant baptism and this insistence on believers' baptism
were so distinctive of these Christians that they were stig-
matized as " Anabaptists," " Catabaptists," and sometimes
as simply " Baptists " ; that is to sa}-, they were declared to
be " rebaptizers," " perx'erters of baptism," or, as unduly
magnifying baptism and making it the occasion of schism,
simply " baptizers." These party names they earnestly
repudiated, preferring to call themselves Brethren, Christ-
ians, Disciples of Christ, Believers, etc.
Some of the distinctive principles of Baptists have al-
ready been referred to. The following enumeration may
not be out of place :
I. Baptists of all parties have, from the beginning, per-
sistently and consistently maintained the absolute suprem-
I
2 INTRODUCTION.
acy of the canonical Scriptures as a norm of faith and
practice. They have insisted on applying the Scripture
test positively and negatively to every detail of doctrine
and practice. It has never seemed to them sufficient to
show that a doctrine or practice, made a matter of faith,
is not contradictory of Scripture ; it must be distinctly a
matter of Scripture precept or example to command their
allegiance or secure from them a recognition of its right
to exist.
2. The application of this principle that has done more
than any other to put Baptists at variance with other
evangelical Christians regards the matter of infant bap-
tism. Baptists have failed to find Scriptural authorization,
whether by precept or example, for the administration of
baptism to infants. They have persistently maintained
that this practice is not only non- Scriptural, but that it is
distinctly contra-Scriptural ; that it is not merely the in-
troduction of a rite not authorized by Scripture, yet inno-
cent and useful, but a complete perversion of one of the
two ordinances that our Lord gave to his church for the
symbolical setting- forth of the great truths of redemption.
Believing that baptism merely symbolizes but does not
bestow or condition regeneration, they have regarded it as
preposterous that the symbol should antedate by years the
thing symbolized ; nay, that the symbolical rite should be
bestowed without any assurance that the thing symbolized
would ever occur.
But not only have Baptists agreed in regarding infant
baptism as without Scriptural warrant and as a perversion
of an ordinance established by Christ, but they have al-
ways insisted that it is in a very high degree destructive
of the true conception of the church as composed exclu-
sively of regenerate persons. If baptism in unconscious
infancy entitle a person to church-membership, in any
DISTIXCTIVE PRIXCirLES. 3
sense, and do not actually work regeneration, and if those
who have been thus baptized are admitted to all the priv-
ileges of church-membership after a period of somewhat
formal instruction, without evidence of change of heart,
a large proportion of the members of such communions
are sure to be unregenerate persons. Moreover, Baptists
have regarded infant baptism as the almost necessary con-
comitant of a state church. If there be an established
form of Christianity in any particular state, it must, ac-
cording to the medieval conception, be coextensive in its
membership with the population of the state. If member-
ship in the church depended upon the conversion and the
baptism on a profession of faith of each individual, such a
coincidence of church-membership with population would
be out of the question. Hence, apparently, the deter-
mination that the friends of church establishments have
always shown to maintain infant baptism at whatever cost.
3. No less prominent has been the contention of Bap-
tists for regenerate membership. They have persistently
maintained that the New Testament conception of the
church universal is that of the entire body of those that
have become personally partakers of the salvation of
Christ ; that the New Testament idea of a local church is
that of a body of believers who ha\'e been regenerated
and sanctified. This principle, far more than the rejec-
tion of infant baptism, or insistence on believers' baptism,
or contention for the precise New Testament form of bap-
tism, has always been fundamental with Baptists. The
baptism of infants has been rejected not simply because it
is non-Scriptural, but even more because of its incompati-
bility with regenerate membership.
4. Believing that faith is a matter between the individ-
ual man and God, Baptists -have, from the beginning of
their denominational history, regarded as an enormity any
4
ixriwDccriox.
attempt to force the conscience, or to constrain men by
outward penalties to this or that form of rehgious belief.
Persecution may make men hypocrites, but true Christians
never. Their advocacy of absolute liberty of conscience
has been due not simply to the fact that they have been
the suffering parties, but is rather a logical result of their
fundamental principles.
5. Insistence on immersion as the only allowable form
of baptism should not be omitted from an enumeration of
Baptist principles ; neither should it have the prominent
place that many opponents are wont to give it. The un-
compromising position that Baptists have long held on this
matter is a corollary of their maintenance of the authority
and the sufficiency of Scripture as a norm of faith and
practice, and their firm conviction that the outward act
commanded by Christ and exemplified by Christ and his
immediate followers was the immersion of believers in
water. Anything short of complete immersion they have
long been unanimous in regarding as an impertinent sub-
stitute for that which Christ appointed, and as voiding the
ordinance of its true symbolical significance.
II. RELATION OF BAPTISTS TO OTHER BODIES OF
CHRISTIANS.
While on the points of doctrine and practice already
considered Baptists believe that they have occupied a
position that has advantageously differentiated them from
all other bodies of Christians, they rejoice to see that
many of the principles for which they have stood in the
past have become the common possessions of evangelical
Christendom. The doctrine of the supremacy and suf-
ficiency of Scripture as a norm of faith and practice was
professed by the great Protestant leaders of the sixteenth
KELAriOX TO OTHER BODIES. 5
century ; but they were driven by observation of what
seemed to them the ruinous consequences of the practical
carrying out of tliis principle essentially to modify their
statement of the doctrine. Most evangelical denomina-
tions of the present time profess to make the Scriptures
supreme, yet, on grounds that seem to Baptists wholly
inadmissible, many of them refuse to accept the findings
of the best evangelical scholarship of the age as to the
subjects and mode of New Testament baptism.
Baptists have, for the most part, been at one with the
Roman Catholic, the Greek CathoHc, and most Protestant
communions in accepting for substance the so-called
Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian creeds, not, however,
because they are venerable or because of the decisions of
ecclesiastical councils, but because, and only in so far as,
they have appeared to them to be in accord with Script-
ure. Yet some Baptist parties have not merely repudi-
ated all extra-Scriptural definitions of doctrine, but have
interpreted the Scriptures in such a manner as to put them-
selves at variance with these ancient formulae.
Their utter rejection of sacerdotalism, ritualism, and all
forms of ceremonialism has put them out of harmony
with all religious parties that stand for sacerdotal and
ritualistic practices.
As regards the set of doctrines on which Augustin dif-
fered from his theological predecessors, and modern Cal-
vinists from Arminians, Baptists have always been divided.
The medieval evangelical sects were all, apparently, anti-
Augustinian, and the Baptist parties of the sixteenth cen-
tury followed in the footsteps of their medieval spiritual
ancestors in this and other important particulars. Those
Baptist parties of modern times whose historical relations
with the medieval evangelical parties and the antipedobap-
tist parties of the sixteenth century are most intimate have
6 IXTRODUCTIOX.
rejected the Calvinistic system ; while those that owe their
origin to EngHsh Puritanism, with WicHfism and Lollard-
ism behind it and with the deeply rooted Calvinism of the
English Elizabethan age as its leading characteristic, have
been noted for their staunch adherence to Calvinistic prin-
ciples, not, of course, because of any supposed authority
of Calvin or of the English Puritan leaders, but because they
have seemed to them to be Scriptural. Calvinistic and
Arminian Baptists have both had periods of extreme de-
velopment, the former sometimes scarcely escaping fatal-
ism and antinomianism, the latter sometimes falling into
Socinian denial of the deity of Christ and Pelagian denial
of original sin. The great majority of the Baptists of to-
day hold to what may be called moderate Calvinism, or
Calvinism tempered with the evangelical anti-Augustin-
ianism which came through the Moravian Brethren to
Wesley and by him was brought powerfully to bear on all
bodies of evangelical Christians.
Baptists are at one with the great Congregational body
and with most of the minor denominations as regards
church government. Holding firmly to the universal
priesthood of believers, they insist upon the equality of
rights and privileges of all church-members, but follow
the New Testament precept and example in so far differ-
entiating the functions of the members as to bring into
effectiveness the gifts and graces of each and to provide
for the watch-care and edification of the entire body and
for the extension of the kingdom of Christ through prop-
erly directed effort. The officers of the congregation not
only owe their appointment to the vote of the entire
church, but hold their positions only so long as seems
good to the church. Some of the antipedobaptist parties
of the sixteenth century, folhnving in the footsteps of their
.spiritual ancestors of the medieval time (VValdenses, Bohe-
RELATION TO OTHER BODIES. 7
mian Brethren, etc.), adopted a system of general superin-
tendency, as did the Moravian Brethren and the Methodists
in more recent times under similar influences. Regarding
themselves as essentially a missionary church, and being
under the stress of almost continuous persecution, they
felt the need of strong administrative heads for the direc-
tion of missionary effort, for administering the resources
of the connection in times of persecution and distress, and
for guarding the body from the inroads of error. But
English and American Baptists have been from the first,
with trifling exceptions, ardent advocates of independency,
and this principle has at times been so overemphasized as
to interfere seriously with concerted action of any kind,
and with the growth of denominational spirit. It is only
within the last hundred years that Baptists have come to
realize the power there is in associated effort in home and
foreign missionary work, in education,- in publication, etc.
Baptists believe that through their conventions, associa-
tions, advisory councils, missionary, publication, and edu-
cational boards, with their efficient administrative officers,
they have secured, without in any way interfering with
the autonomy of the indi\idual congregations, most of the
advantages of prelatical and presbyterial organization.
The attitude of Baptists toward Christian union is often
misconceived and adversely judged by their brethren of
other denominations. Baptists earnestly desire Christian
union, and believe that it will come in due time; but they
insist that efforts for union, to be permanently effective,
must be along the line of a better understanding of the
word of God and more complete loyalty thereto, rather
than along the line of compromise. They are themselves
anxious to be instructed in the word of God more per-
fectly, and are ready to abandon any position that can be
shown to be out of harmony with apostolic precept or ex-
8 IXTRODUCriOX.
ample. That the scholars of all denominations, including
Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Reformed, are
so nearly in agreement as regards the leading features of
the apostolic church, including the nature of church or-
ganization, the character and functions of church officers,
the number and character of the ordinances, etc., and that
the consensus of scholarship is so nearly in accord with
the traditional Baptist interpretation of Scripture, is highh-
gratifying to Baptists, and encourages them to believe that
the development of Christian life and practice will be in
the direction of greater uniformity, and that the church of
the future will more and more approximate the Baptist
position. This they desire only so far as the Baptist posi-
tion shall be proved by the best Christian scholarship to
be the Scriptural position.
III. ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL ANTIPEDOBAPTISTS.
The claim of Baptists that their doctrine and polity are
in substantial accord with the precept and example of
Christ and his apostles would seem to make it incumbent
on their historian to explain the early departure of the
great mass of Christians from the apostolic standard.
Christianity arose in the midst of religious ferment. The
philosophies and theosophies of the East were never
more active and aggressive than during the first three
Christian centuries. Before the close of the apostolic age
Gnosticism in some of its most dangerous forms wa.s. se-
riously threatening the life of the churches. Belief in the
magical efficacy of external rites was a universal feature of
paganism, and the corrupted Judaism of the early Christ-
ian age cooperated with theosophical paganism in fixing
this feature on the early churches. Sacerdotalism goes
hand in hand with ceremonialism, and the pagan idea of
ANCIENT PERVERSIONS OE BAPTISM. g
the priest as a mediator between God and man and as the
exclusive manipulator of magical religious ceremonies
was not long in making its impression on the Christian
churches. A careful comparison of the Christian litera-
ture of the second and tliird centuries with the New Tes-
tament writings cannot fail to reveal the transformation of
the church in doctrine and life under pagan influence.
Early in the second century the idea became prevalent
that while instruction in Christian truth and morals, re-
pentance, faith, fasting, and prayer must precede baptism,
the remission of sins takes place only in connection with
the baptismal act. Such is the teaching of the " Pastor"
of Hernias (about A.D. 139) and of Justin Martyr (about
A.D. 150). By the close of the second century the pagan
view that water baptism possesses in itself magical efificacy
begins to find expression. " Is it not wonderful, too,"
writes Tertullian, " that death should be washed away by
bathing? " To justify such ascription of eflficacy to water
baptism he expatiates on the age and the dignity of water.
" Water was the first to produce that which had life, that
it might be no wonder in baptism if water know how to
give life." " All waters, therefore, in virtue of the pristine
privilege of their origin, do, after invocation of God, attain
the sacramental power of sanctifi cation." In the Gnos-
tic " Pistis Sophia," Christ is represented as sa}-ing: " If
any one hath received the mysteries of baptism, those
mysteries become a great fire, exceeding strong and wise,
so as to burn up all the sins," etc. The Ebionitic writer of
the " Clemen-tine Recognitions " thus represents the effects
of baptism : " If, therefore, any one be found smeared with
sins and lusts as with pitch, the fire easily gets the mas-
tery of him. But if the tow be not steeped in the pitch
of sin, but in the water of purification and regeneration,
the fire of the demons shall not be able to kindle in it."
lO INTRODUCTIOX.
With such passages, of which many more might be quoted,
may be compared the following from the orthodox Cyp-
rian : " For as scorpions and serpents, which prevail on the
dry ground, when cast into the water cannot prevail nor
retain their venom, so also the wicked spirits . . . cannot
remain any longer in the body of a man in whom, baptized
and sanctified, the Holy Spirit is beginning to dwell."
Side by side with the idea of the efficacy of water bap-
tism there had grown up among Christians the conviction
that apart from baptism there is no salvation even for un-
conscious infants. This conviction seems first to have
found expression in Gnostic and Ebionitic writings, but it
had become pretty general before the middle of the third
century. In the "Clementine Recognitions" (vi. 8,9),
Peter is represented as saying: "And do you suppose that
you can have hope toward God, even if you cultivate all
piety and all righteousness, but do not receive baptism?
. . . When you are regenerated and born again of water
and of God, the frailty of your former birth, which you
have through men, is cut off, and so at length you shall
be able to attain salvation ; but otherwise it is impossible.
. . . Betake yourselves, therefore, to these waters, for
they alone can cjuench the violence of the future fire. . . .
For whether you be righteous or unrighteous, baptism is
necessary for you in every respect : for the righteous, that
perfection may be accomplished in him, and he may be
born again to God ; for the unrighteous, that pardon may
be vouchsafed him for the sins he has committed in igno-
rance."
Infant baptism was the inevitable result of the twofold
conviction that infants are so affected with the guilt of the
race as to be subject to damnation in case of death with-
out baptism, and that baptism possesses magical efficacy to
secure salvation. At first it would naturally be confined
OTHER ANCIENT PERVERSIONS. II
to infants in imminent danger of death ; but those who
had the keenest reahzation of the horrors of hell and the
virtue of baptism were not content to run the risk of the
sudden death of their offspring, and so the practice grew
apace. It was somewhat impeded in its progress, how-
ever, by the rise and growth of another error, namely,
that post-baptismal sins are irremissible. It was on this
ground, and on this alone, that Tertullian pleaded so ear-
nestly for the postponement of baptism until such a de-
gree of maturity and stability should have been reached as
would warrant the expectation that the candidate would
be able to guard himself from the commission of mortal
sins. On this ground some went to the opposite extreme
of postponing baptism until near the end of life. Thus
one could be assured of entering heaven with a clean
score. The rigid view of Tertullian as regards the unpar-
donableness of post-baptismal sins gradually gave place to
a more benignant view, and from the middle of the third
century the church made such provision for the restora-
tion of the lapsed that infant baptism came to be regarded
by most as the safer thing.
The Lord's Supper suffered a similar perversion, and,
largely through Gnostic influence, ceased to be regarded
as a memorial feast in which believers held communion
with one another and with their risen Lord, and assumed
the character of a mystic rite celebrated with elaborate
ceremonial.
The growth of sacerdotalism has already been referred
to. The process by which the simple congregational
church government of the apostolic time developed into
the hierarchical government of the third and following
centuries, when bishops claimed to rule by divine right
and to be irresponsible, cannot here be detailed.
No less destructive of the spirit of primitive Christianity
12 IXTRODUCTIOX.
was the early intrusion of the doctrine of tlie meritorious-
ness of external works. Jews and pagans alike attached
merit to almsgiving, fasting, and the utterance of fixed
forms of prayer. By the middle of the third century
leading churchmen like Cyprian did not hesitate to urge
almsgiving as a means of securing the remission of sins
and of purchasing an everlasting inheritance.
Asceticism, also, was imported into early Christianity
from paganism. The disposition to regard the body as
intrinsically evil, and all natural impulses as worthy only
of being trampled upon, is a well-known feature of pagan
religions. Fanatical seeking for martyrdom, excessive
fasting, and exaltation of virginity were the earliest forms
of Christian asceticism. It was chiefly through Gnosticism
and Manichseism that ascetical ideas found entrance into
the church. By the fourth century they had become
dominant.
These facts are mentioned here to show that the perver-
sion of the ordinances in the early church was no isolated
phenomenon, and that Baptists are not presumptuous in
rejecting ecclesiastical practices which can be traced back
e\en as far as the second or third century.
But, it may be asked, did the church as a whole suc-
cumb to these corrupting influences? Were there none
that remained loyal to primitive Christianity among the
tempted multitudes? Some Baptist writers have sought
to find in the Montanists, Novatians, Donatists, Jo\"inianists,
Vigilantians, Paulicians, Bogomiles, etc., who successively
revolted from the dominant type of Christianity, and in
the ancient British churches that long refused obedience
to the pope, adherents to apostolic doctrine and practice
and links in the chain of Baptist apostolic succession. It
may suffice here to say that while some of these parties
were more and .some less evangelical than the church they
MED IE I 'A L A XT J FED OB A P TIS TS. I 3
antagonized, no one of them can be proved to have held
to Baptist views as to the nature and subjects of baptism.
Was there, then, a failure of the assurance of Christ that
the gates of Hades should not prevail against his church?
Far be it! We are not able to prove, it is true, that from
the close of the apostolic age to the twelfth century a
single congregation existed that was in every particular
true to the apostolic norm ; but that there were hosts of
true believers even during the darkest and most corrupt
periods of Christian history does not admit of a doubt.
That a church may make grave departures in doctrine and
practice from the apostolic standard without ceasing to be
a church of Christ must be admitted, or else it must be
maintained that during long periods no church is known
to have existed. In this admission there is no implication
that an indiviciual or a church can knowingly live in dis-
obedience to Christ's precepts without grievous sin, or can
ignorantly disobey without serious spiritual loss. On the
contrary, every departure, conscious or unconscious, from
apostolic precept or example not only involves loss as
regards the particular defection, but brings in its train
other evils, which in turn bring others, until doctrine and
practice become thoroughly corrupt.
Not until we reach the twelfth century do we encounter
types of Christian life that we can with any confidence
recognize as Baptist. Among the dissenting parties which
flourished at that time in the south of France we meet
with Peter de Bruys and Henry of Lausanne, both of
whom took a firm stand in favor of the restoration of prim-
itive Christianity and for many years propagated their
views with great success throughout extensive regions.
Referring to the work of Peter de Bruys in a certain re-
gion, Peter the Venerable, a contemporary, wrote : " In
your parts the people are rebaptized, the churches pro-
1 4 INTKOD UCriON.
faned, the altars overthrown, crosses burned ; on the very
day of our Lord's passion flesh is pubhcly eaten ; priests
are scourged; monks are imprisoned and compelled by
terrors and tortures to marr}-." The scourging and tor-
turing are non-Baptist features, but the writer bears wit-
ness at least to the utter helplessness of priests and monks
in the presence of Peter's fiery zeal. Elsewhere he sums
up the errors of the evangelists under five heads. " The
first article of the heretics denies that children who have
not reached the age of intelligence can be saved by bap-
tism, nor {sic) that another person's faith can profit those
who cannot use their own, since our Lord says, ' Who-
soever shall have believed and shall have been baptized
shall be saved.' " He charges them, furthermore, with
denying the real presence in the eucharist. The rest of the
charges are in entire accord with the Baptist position.
Peter labored from 1104 to 11 28, and Llenry from 11 16
to 1 148. The popularity of the latter was wonderful, and
multitudes were turned by him from the dominant church.
We have accounts of similar antipedobaptist movements
in Breton, the Netherlands, and the Rhine region during
the first half of the twelfth century. Evervin, in a letter
to Bernard, refers to " certain other heretics in our land
[the vicinity of Cologne], absolutely discordant from
these [the Cathari], through whose mutual discord and
contention both have been detected by us. These lat-
ter deny that the body of Christ is made at the altar.
. . . Concerning the baptism of little children they have
no faith, because of that passage in the gospel, ' Whoso-
ever shall have believed and shall have been baptized shall
be saved.' " It is probable that Arnold of Brescia, the
great Italian reformer of the same century, rejected infant
baptism. If so, his position was almost identical with that
of Peter de Bruys and Henry of Lausanne, with whom
MEDIEVAL EVAXGELICAL LIFE. I 5
he may have come in contact. The statement of Otto of
Freising, one of the best informed of his contemporaries,
" He [Arnold] is said to have been astray with reference
to the sacrament of the altar and the baptism of infants,"
is amply confirmed as to the first charge and uncontra-
dicted as to the second.
The early Waldenses (1178 onward) were believers in
transubstantiation, baptismal regeneration, and infant bap-
tism. Under the influence of more evangelical parties,
most or all of them came to reject transubstantiation and
consubstantiation alike, and some of them, probably a
minority, became antipedobaptists.
Peter Chelcicky, the spiritual father of the Bohemian
Brethren, and one of the ablest evangelical thinkers of
the fifteenth century, closely approached in his doctrinal
system the position reached by the antipedobaptists of the
sixteenth century. Like the later Waldenses, he rejected
the doctrines of the real presence and baptismal regener-
ation, and sought to make the New Testament the stand-
ard of his faith and practice. Any departure from the
apostolic model, by way of addition or diminution, he
considered apostasy. God's law is perfectly sufficient in
every particular. Any union of church and state he re-
garded as fraught with evil. If the entire population of
a state were Christian, there would be no need of civil
government. A Christian state he regarded as anomalous.
In the so-called Christian state there is no place for the
true Christian except in the lowest ranks. All dominion,
all class distinctions, are radically opposed to Christ's re-
quirement of brotherly equality. No true Christian can
be a king or a civil officer. Christians should avoid trade,
as involving deceit in seeking advantages. He insisted
on the freedom of the will, yet recognized the necessity
of divine grace in regeneration. Oaths and capital punish-
1 6 IXTRODUCTIOX.
ment he rejected with the utmost decision. As regards
baptism, after quoting the great commission, he proceeds :
" Open and clear is the word of the Son of God: first he
speaks of faith, then of baptism ; . . . and since we find
this doctrine in the gospel we should now also hold fast
to it. But the priests err greatly in baptizing the great
mass, and no one is found, whether old or young, who
knows God and believes his Scripture. . . . Baptism be-
longs to those who know God and believe his Scripture."
It is rather disappointing to find him adding, " If such
have children, baptism should be bestowed upon their
children in their conscience."
The Bohemian Brethren (Unitas Fratrum) practiced re-
baptism in receiving members from the Roman Catholic
and Hussite Churches until 1537, when they reluctantly
abandoned it to escape the penalties to which Anabaptists
were by law amenable. Like the Waldenses, the Bohe-
mian Brethren were divided in respect to infant baptism.
In an apology and two confessions addressed (1503-04)
to King Wladislaus, they admit that some among them
have rejected infant baptism.
There is no decisive evidence that any party in England
rejected infant baptism before the Reformation time, al-
though a vigorous evangelical movement was carried for-
ward there before and after the time of Wiclif.
The medieval exangelical moxements are of interest to
the student of Baptist history not simply on account of
the antipedobaptist features that appear in connection
with the most important of them, but still more because
of the type of life and teaching which was to reappear in
nearly all its features in the antipedobaptist parties of the
sixteenth century. The stress laid on the imitation of
Christ and on the Sermon on the Mount, the maintenance
of freedom of the will, insistence on holy living as a
THE AXABAPTISrS. ij
necessary expression of true faith, rejection of oaths, war-
fare, capital punishment, and the exercise of magistracy
on the part of Christians, are common to medieval evan-
gelical parties and to the various antipeclobaptist parties
of the Reformation time.
It is estimated that there were at the beginning of the
sixteenth century between 300 and 400 congregations of
Bohemian Brethren in Moravia and Bohemia, with a con-
stituency of about 200,000. These had the support and
protection of many of the most powerful noblemen. In
the Alpine valleys of southeastern France and northwestern
Italy the Waldenses (Vaudois) continued to exist in large
numbers. It is estimated that they had at this period
about 100 congregations, with a constituency of about
100,000. Scattered throughout the rest of Europe there
were Waldensian congregations, the number of whose con-
stituents may have reached 100,000 more.
During the years immediately preceding the Lutheran
revolt from the papacy, these evangelical Christians were
active in the circulation of vernacular Bibles and other
evangelical literature.
IV. THE ANABAPTISTS OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
The Anabaptist movement of the sixteenth century had
its roots in the evangelical parties of the middle ages, to
which it owed its modes of thought, its type of Christian
life, and its methods of work. To the peculiar circum-
stances of the time it owed most of the features that
differentiate it from the earlier movements. The term
" Anabaptist " was applied indiscriminately to all who,
dissenting from the dominant forms of Protestantism and
from Roman Catholicism, insisted on setting up separate
1 8 IN TROD L XTION.
churches for the embodiment and propagation of their
views. To the dominant parties, Thomas Miinzer, the
mystical fanatic and sociaHstic agitator, who never sub-
mitted to nor administered rebaptism, who persisted in
baptizing infants, and who sought to set up the kingdom
of Christ by carnal warfare, the scholarly and soundly
Scriptural Hubmaier, the intellectual and spiritual mystic,
Denck, and the chiliastic fanatics of Minister, were all alike
Anabaptists, and even the most Christ-like of these were
treated as criminals of the deepest dye. There was some
excuse for this confusion in the fact that most of those
to whom the epithet was applied denied the Scriptural
authorization of infant baptism, and made baptism on a
profession of faith a condition of entering into their fellow-
ship.
The beginning of the sixteenth century was a time of
unrest and expectancy. A spirit of revolution was abroad.
Enough of evangelical light and enough of the spirit of
freedom had been diffused among the oppressed masses
to insure among them an enthusiastic reception for any
movement that should give fair promise of relief from
priestcraft and of social amelioration. When Luther de-
nounced indulgences and afterward went on assailing, one
after another, the c<)rruptions and errors of the Roman
Catholic Church, those who had come under the influence
of the evangelical movements of the earlier time felt that
now at last the day of deliverance had come, and rallied
to his support. Luther's bold proclamation of the suffi-
ciency and authority of the Scriptures, of the universal
priesthood of believers, and of the right of each individual
Christian to interpret the Scriptures for himself, and his
repudiation of " whatever falls short of, is apart from, or
goes beyond Christ," must have produced a strong im-
pression on those who had been long listening for such a
THE ZWICKAU PROPHETS. 1 9
mighty leader to voice their sentiments. It was natural
that when Luther began to draw back, in deference to
the views of the civil rulers and from fear of disastrous
revolution, the radical reformers that had taken him at his
word should refuse to conform to his moderated scheme,
and should set themselves in opposition to what they con-
sidered a temporizing policy. It was natural, also, that
Luther, when he felt that the evangelical cause was jeop-
ardized by the radicals, should have counseled their vio-
lent suppression.
The first note of revolt in Germany was sounded at
Zwickau, where Thomas Miinzer had become pastor of a
leading church. Under the influence of Nicholas Storch,
a master weaver, who had apparently come in contact
with a chiliastic Bohemian party, and \\\\o possessed a
wonderful knowledge of the letter of Scripture and knew
how to interpret the prophecies with reference to his own
time, Miinzer was led to proclaim the setting up of the
kingdom of Christ, with the overthrow of the existing
order. Miinzer, Storch, and a number of their followers
regarded themselyes as prophets, and claimed to be com-
missioned to lead in the establishment of a reign of right-
eousness and equality. After some iconoclastic procedures
at Zwickau, a number of the prophets visited Wittenberg
with the hope of winning to their support the evangelical
leaders. Carlstadt, the rector of the university, and Cel-
larius, one of the leading scholars, recognized their claims
and accepted their views. Melanchthon was powerfully
moved, but turned to Luther, then in retirement at the
Wartburg, for counsel. Luther left his retirement and by
a mighty effort succeeded in checking the movement. The
labors of Storch and Miinzer during the next few years,
and the violent fanaticism of Miinzer and his followers,
aided in arousing the social democracy of Germany to re-
20 INTRODUCTIOX.
volt, and in convincing many that the kingdom of God
would be set up by a mighty display of divine power in
connection with the swords of the faithful. Storch rejected
infant baptism and established several congregations of
baptized believers. Miinzer retained infant baptism, after
declaring it to be unscriptural, and devoted his energies
almost exclusively to arousing the masses to revolt. The
part which he played in the Peasants' War, the massacre
of his deluded followers, and his own subsequent execu-
tion are sufficiently familiar. Storch is to be regarded as
the father of the chiliastic Anabaptist movement, \\'hose
later history was so fraught with disaster.
This blending of antipedobaptist views with chiliastic
reveries and with socialistic and revolutionary aims and
procedures was most unfortunate, and caused antipedo-
baptists of all types to be regarded as the enemies of civil
and religious order.
A radical movement of a widely different type we meet
in Switzerland from 1523 onward. Zwingli was an ad-
vanced humanist, and had no sympathy with the ascrip-
tion of magical efficacy to external ritQS. His efforts at
reform were directed largely against the superstitious
practices of the Roman Church, and so general was anti-
papal feeling in republican Switzerland that the reforma-
tion of idolatrous abuses met with little opposition. Cool-
headed, clear-headed, a good scholar, an able theologian,
a skillful debater, an adroit politician, he aimed at political
and social reform almost as much as at religious. In a
disputation with representatives of the Bishop of Con-
stance in 1523, he set forth his views in sixty-seven arti-
cles, and overwhelmed his opponents. In the elaboration
of the eighteenth article he called attention to the fact
that in the early church catechetical instruction preceded
baptism. He persistently denied that infants are saved
THE SWISS ANABAPTISTS. 2 1
by baptism or lost through lack of it. Zwingli's type of
reform rapidly spread over a large part of Switzerland
and into the adjoining German and Austrian provinces.
From 1 52 1 onward, Balthasar Hubmaier, one of the ablest
theologians and most eloquent preachers of the time, was
chief pastor at Waldshut in the Austrian Breisgau, having
left a highly influential position in Regensburg on account
of his adoption of evangeHcal views. In 1523 he con-
versed with Zwingli on the baptism of infants, a«d Zwingli
agreed with him in holding that it was without Scriptural
authorization and ought in time to be abolished. Hub-
maier kept his antipedobaptist views in abeyance for some
time, and by his clear and strong evangelical teaching
gained such an ascendency as enabled him to carry with
him the influential elements of the population in the adop-
tion of believers' baptism.
In the meantime a radical party had appeared in the
canton of Ziirich. Reformatory measures were pressed
forward vigorously by Zwingli, but he was hampered by
the civil authorities and dared not proceed as fast as the
radicals demanded. These violated fasts and threw down
images before they were authoritatively abolished. They
refused to pay tithes and agitated for agrarian reform. A
body of earnest Christian scholars had gathered around
Zwingli, who sought to impress upon him the importance
of completing the reformation of the church and the in-
admissibility of allowing the measure of reform to be dic-
tated by the ungodly magistracy. That the unregenerate
should be admitted to the Lord's Supper along with the
regenerate seemed to them contrary to apostolic precept
and example. Zwingli admitted the desirableness of most
of the reforms that they urged, but could not be persuaded
to ignore the magistracy. Unable longer to have fellow-
ship with a partially reformed church, and convinced that
22 INTRODUCTION.
Zwingli was sinfully temporizing, Grebel, Manz, Blaurock,
and others withdrew, and organized a church of beUevers
on the basis of beHevers' baptism (December, 1524). When
ZwingH saw the connection of antipedobaptism with the
setting up of separate churches and the dissolution of the
ecclesiastical establishment, he at once became a zealous
advocate of infant baptism. The antipedobaptist move-
ment spread with great rapidity in the canton of Ziirich,
and thence to Schaffhausen, St. Gall, Berne, Basle, and
the Graubiinden. Severe persecution for a time seemed
rather to further the movement than to hinder its prog-
ress. In St. Gall and its vicinity thousands were baptized
in a few weeks (April and May, 1525).
Hubmaier, with Roiibli's help, introduced believers'
baptism at Waldshut (about Easter, 1525), and the town
authorities, supported by the people, incurred the wrath
of the Austrian government by refusing to deliver him
up. When obliged to leave Waldshut (December, 1525)
he took refuge in Zurich, where with Zwingli 's approval
he was thrown into prison, and if not technically tortured
(as seems probable), was subjected to the most distressing
hardships. Exterminating persecution dispersed the Svv'iss
antipedobaptists throughout Europe. Hubmaier took ref-
uge in Moravia (July, 1526), where he won some noble-
men to the support of his cause, and in about a year and
a half (1526-27) built up a strong church and produced
and published an extensive denominational literature.
In Silesia, partly through the influence of Nicholas
Storch, partly through the activity of Caspar Schwenck-
feldt, an influential nobleman who had adopted antipedo-
baptist views, but was prevented by his mysticism from
taking a strong position in favor of believers' baptism, and
still more through the influence of the Swiss antipedo-
baptist movement, a large part of the population came to
ANABAPTISTS OF SILESIA, AUSTRIA AND AUGSBURG. 23
reject infant baptism. Persecution drove Schwenckfeldt
from the country in 1528, and Gabriel Ascherham (Schar-
ding), one of the ablest and soundest of the antipedobap-
tist leaders, led thousands of his followers to Moravia,
which had become the land of promise for the persecuted
Anabaptist hosts.
In Styria and the Tyrol antipedobaptist views met with
the most eager acceptance, and, notwithstanding the per-
sistent efforts of the Austrian authorities to exterminate
them. Anabaptists long carried on a vigorous propaganda
in these provinces. One of the most famous of the Tyrol-
ese preachers was Jacob Huther, who became a leader of the
chief Moravian party, but afterward suffered martyrdom
in his native land. These Austrian provinces had been
nurseries of evangelical life during the later middle ages,
and the very localities where Waldenses had flourished
became centers of Anabaptist activity.
Augsburg was one of the chief commercial centers of
the sixteenth century, and was a refuge for persecuted
Anabapti.sts from 1525 to 1530. In no locality was there
a greater aggregation or a greater variety of Anabaptist
life. Chiliasts of the Storch and Miinzer type and Swiss
Anabaptists were both alike early on the ground ; but the
first to attempt an organization of the heterogeneous
Anabaptist mass was Hans Denck, who may be regarded
as, next to Hubmaier, the most important of the early
Anabaptist leaders. Closely associated with him in evan-
gelistic work and in oriental studies and Bible translation
was Ludwig Hatzer. Under Hubmaier's influence, or-
ganization was effected in the summer of 1526. Denck
left Augsburg after a few months, and the leadership fell
upon Hans Hut, a disciple of Miinzer and a chiliast of the
most pronounced type, who, however, had been baptized
by Denck. The activity and influence of Hut are aston-
24 INTRODUC'J-JOX.
ishing. Making Augsburg his center, he labored in Mo-
ra\ia, upper Austria, and throughout southern Germany.
So irresistible was his influence over the oppressed masses
that a few hours' stay in a place often resulted in the
establishment of a C(jmmunity pledged to his principles.
There can be little doubt that he encouraged the people
to expect in the near future a mighty manifestation of
divine power for their deliverance, and gave secret instruc-
tions to his followers to be prepared to smite the ungodly
when the appointed time should come.
Denck's type of teaching was perpetuated in Augsburg
by Eitelhans Langenmantel, a member of one of the chief
patrician families, who published largely in defense of anti-
pedobaptist principles and against the corrupt practices
of the time.
Denck returned to Augsburg about September, 1527,
and once more placed his strong hand on the helm. There
are said to have been at least eleven hundred Anabaptists
in the city about this time. Shortly after Denck's return
a great gathering of Anabaptist leaders is supposed to
have occurred in Augsburg. Persecution of a violent type
soon followed. Denck departed, and died soon afterward
at the house of his friend CEcolampadius. Hut died in
prison, and a number of executions followed. In Swabia,
Bavaria, and Franconia, exterminating measures were en-
acted in February, 1528. The sanguinary imperial edict
of Speier followed in April, 1529.
The Strassburg authorities were even more tolerant
than those of Augsburg, and the city has been called an
Eldorado of the persecuted. The evangelical ministers
were exceptionally liberal. Bucer for some time declined
to persecute those who quietly rejected infant baptism ;
Zell could never be induced to repudiate or refuse hospi-
tality to any man who recognized Christ as his Lord and
ANABAPTISTS OF STRASSBURG AND HESSE. 25
Saviour; while Capito could scarcely be restrained from
becoming an avowed antipedobaptist. Every type of
antipedobaptist life had its representatives in this center.
During 1526 vast numbers of persecuted Anabaptists from
all parts of Alsace, southern Germany, and Switzerland
streamed into the city. Here also Denck and Hiitzer
resided for some months, and produced a marked impres-
sion. Among other noted leaders may be mentioned
Jacob Gross, a disciple of Hubmaier; Michael Sattler, one
of the ablest and most amiable of the antipedobaptists of
the Swiss school ; Wilhelm Roiibli, one of the earliest and
most zealous evangelists of the time ; Jacob Kautz, a
brilliant preacher who went beyond Denck in the mystical
character of his teaching; Pilgram Marbeck, a Tyrolese
engineer, whose social position and whose devotion to
antipedobaptist principles were of the highest value to the
cause ; and Melchior Hofmann, a Swabian furrier, whose
influence was to prove disastrous.
After the issuing of the edict of Speier the Strassburg
authorities felt obliged to take measures for the suppres-
sion of the deeply rooted antipedobaptist movement.
Many were banished, some were tortured, but the Strass-
burg authorities were strongly averse to shedding inno-
cent blood.
The Landgra\'e Philip of Hesse was, with all his moral
delinquencies, by far the most tolerant of all the princes
of Germany. In spite of the entreaties and remonstrances
of such neighboring princes as John George of Saxony,
and of such Protestant leaders as Luther, Melanchthon,
and Bucer, he steadfastly refused to deal severely with the
people everywhere spoken against. It is remarkable that
of the two thousand or more Anabaptists executed up to
1530, not one had suffered in Hesse. In 1529, in response
to a remonstrance from the elector of Saxony, he wrote :
26 IXTRODUCTIOX.
" Wc are still unable at the present time to find it in
our conscience to have any one executed with the sword
on account of his faith." Even after the Miinster catas-
trophe, when other princes were slaughtering Anabaptists
indiscriminately, he insisted on making a distinction be-
tween fanatics and evangelical advocates of believers' bap-
tism. " To punish capitally . . . those who have done
nothing more than err in the faith cannot indeed be justi-
fied on gospel grounds," he wrote at this time.
The most noted and influential leader of the Hessian
Anabaptists was Melchior Rink, a man of splendid scholar-
ship and noble character, but unfortunately involved in
the millenarian errors of Storch and Miinzer. He was
many times arrested, and his life was demanded by the
Saxon princes and theologians, but Philip had strength
enough to protect him from his enemies.
At NikoLsburg in Moravia, Hubmaier labored for a
year and a half with astonishing success. The Counts
Leonard and John of Lichten.stein accepted his views and
received baptism at his hands. The principal evangelical
preachers in the territory of the Lichtensteins, including
one who had been a Roman Catholic bishop, were also
convinced of the truth of Hubmaier's teaching, and became
his coadjutors. A printing-press was established and
Hubmaier's works were widely circulated. Hut soon ap-
peared on the scene and won some to his millenarianism
and his rejection of magistracy and warfare. Communism
was championed by Jacob Wiedemann, and after Hub-
maier's martyrdom (1528) became the dominant type of
Anabaptist teaching in Moravia. Notwithstanding fre-
quent bitter persecution, the Moravian Anabaptists by
their skill and industry made themselves indispensable to
the Moravian nobles, and their strong communistic organ-
ization enabled them to husband their resources for ag-
MORA I 'I A N A A 'A BA P TIS TS. 2 "]
gressive work in the neighboring countries, and even in
times of severe persecution to hold together. The dis-
advantages of communism need not here be dwelt upon.
Under Jacob Huther (1529 onward) the communistic ele-
ment became dominant, and the party soon came to be
known as Hutherites. At the beginning of the Thirty
Years' War (161 8) they numbered about 70,000, and were
highly prosperous. War and the Jesuits nearly wrought
their extermination. In the latter part of the eighteenth
century a few families removed from Transylvania to
Russia. In 1874 the entire community emigrated to
America and settled in what is now South Dakota. They
have five congregations, with a membership of 352. (See
vol. i. of the present series, p. 213.)
By 1530 nearly all of the Anabaptist leaders of the
earlier time had been destroyed. Persecution had become
so fierce and so general that apart from Moravia there
was scarcely a place of refuge. The chiliastic teachings
of Hut and Rink had found eager acceptance among the
pious people, who were coming to despair of the triumph
of the truth through ordinary means, and who were driven
to the belief that God would miraculously interpose for
the deliverance of the godly and for the destruction of the
ungodly. This view received extensive currency through
the remarkable activity of Melchior Hofmann. After an
eventful career as a Lutheran (1523-29) in Livonia,
Sweden, Denmark, etc., where he created great commo-
tion by his fiery denunciations of the corruptions of the
time, and his proclamation of the approaching divine
judgment, he adopted the Carlstadt-Zwinglian view of
the Supper, and in company with Carlstadt journeyed
through the Netherlands and reached Strassburg in June,
1529. In East Friesland a controversy was raging be-
tween Lutherans and Zwinglians, and he and Carlstadt
28 JXTRODUCriOX.
L;a\ e mucli encouragement and help to the Zwinghan
party, wliicli soon became triumphant. He was equipped
with a remarkable knowledge of the letter of Scripture,
and with a mastery of the allegorical method of interpre-
tation. He had long been a pronounced chiliast, and he
had already reached the conclusion that Christ's human
nature was not derived from Mary, but was essentially
divine. Contact with the Anabaptists of Strassburg led to
his conversion to antipedobaptist view^s. He soon found
those who sympathized with him in his chiliastic and other
errors, although it may be supposed that those antipedo-
baptists who had been trained in the school of Denck, and
those who were at this time under the influence of the
soundly evangelical Pilgram Marbeck, would give little
heed to such vagaries. The prophetic spirit appeared
among his followers, and in 1530 he published a modern
prophecy with an interpretation of Revelation xii., which
the authorities regarded as treasonable. During the next
three years, by his writings and his evangelistic efforts, he
gained multitudes of converts throughout the Netherlands,
Westphalia, and the lower Rhenish provinces. In 1531
the Hofmannites suffered severe persecution in the Nether-
lands, and Jan Trijpmaker, Hofmann's most influential dis-
ciple, was put to death. Hofmann now promulgated an
order that baptism be suspended for two years, with the
intimation that at the end of this period there would be a
wonderful manifestation of divine power on behalf of the
lovers of the truth. The effect of this fixing of the date
of Christ's advent was wonderful. His disciples were filled
with the enthusiasm of those who are assured that they
■ ha\e a great mission to perform, and that the time is
strictly limited. From this time onward the growth of
the party in the Netherlands was rapid. Lutheranism
and Zwinelianism almost vanished. Throughout West-
CIIILIASTIC ANABAmSTS. 29
phalia, Hesse, Cleves-Jiilich, and other neighboring prov-
inces this type of teaching was rapidly propagated.
In 1533 one of Hofmann's disciples had prophesied
that he should return to Strassburg, suffer six months'
imprisonment, and then lead the lovers of the truth to
universal victory. He returned to Strassburg and was
thrown into prison, where he died ten years later. There
is something truly pathetic in the history of his prophecies
and his disappointments. Again and again he fixed the
date of the inauguration of the glorious kingdom, and
sought to explain the preceding failures. Hofmann was
undoubtedly an exceedingly able and a profoundly pious
man, and to his honor it must be said that he did not
counsel resort to violence. But he awakened a chiliastic
enthusiasm that was sure to lead to the horrors of Miin-
ster.
Before the imprisonment of Hofmann a still more influ-
ential leader had appeared in the person of one of his
Dutch disciples, Jan Matthys by name. Hofmann seems
to have announced (153 i) to the faithful that he himself
was Elias ; Enoch would appear later, and be revealed to
the lovers of the truth ; in two years the saints would
gather at Strassburg, and to the number of 144,000 would
go forth in the name of the Lord to set up his kingdom.
As the end of 1533 drew near expectation was at its
height, and the wildest excitement pre\'ailed throughout
the Hofmannite connection. Hofmann was in prison, and
the people grew impatient. Matthys announced himself
as the promised prophet, and ordered the resumption of
baptism. A propaganda was now carried forward with
the intensest enthusiasm. Multitudes were baptized
throughout the regions of Hofmann's activity. In Mat-
thys we see the spirit of Miinzer revived, and that in an
intensified form. He seems to have been consumed with
30
INTJWDl'C'J'IOX.
hatred of the upper classes, whom he regarded as the op-
pressors and persecutors of the poor people of God. To
him God was in relation to the ungodly a God of venge-
ance. The dealing of Jehovah with the Canaanites through
his chosen people was the basis of his idea of the way in
which the new dispensation was to be ushered in. Chris-
tians were to take up arms, and to blot out the ungodly
from the face of the earth.
Meanwhile an antipedobaptist movement of great power
had been developed at Miinster in Westphalia. This city
had been a Roman Catholic stronghold. Protestantism of
every type had been excluded with the utmost rigor. In
1529 Bernard Rothmann, a well-educated young clergy-
man, began to preach evangelical sermons at St. Mauritz,
in the suburbs. His influence extended into the city,
especially among the working-classes. His followers were
able by 15 30 to secure for him the use of one of the city
churches. Under his leadership the social democracy of
the city joined hands with the Lutherans, and the reform
movement became so vigorous that in December, 1532,
the unpopular bishop was driv^en from the city and many
of his influential supporters imprisoned. The success of
the evangelical movement aroused the wildest enthusiasm,
not only in Miinster, but also throughout the lower Rhen-
ish provinces. Monasteries were closed, and priests were
driven from the city. A number of able evangelical min-
isters from Cleves-Jiilich and other provinces soon joined
Rothmann in his reforming work. Among the most noted
of these were Roll, Vinne, Klopriss, and Staprade. These
all, with Rothmann, soon became avowed antipedobaptists.
Rothmann at this time possessed a commanding influence.
He had married the widow of a syndic, and had the full
support of the council and the guilds. Controversy with
the Lutherans followed. The council attempted to compel
MUNSTER KINGDOM. 3 1
the ministers to resume infant baptism. On their refusal
an order was issued for the closing of their churches and
the deposition of Rothmann. A great popular demon-
stration secured for Rothmann the privilege of preaching
in another church on condition that he should refrain from
referring to the matters in dispute. He consented to re-
spect this requirement until he should receive some further
intimation of the divine will with respect to the matter.
The news of the overthrow of Roman Catholicism in
Miinster and of the rapid growth of antipedobaptist senti-
ment awakened the profoundest interest among the Hof-
mannite congregations. Early in January, 1534, two emis-
saries from Jan Matthys reached Miinster and announced
to the antipedobaptist leaders that Enoch had appeared
in the person of Matthys, that the millennial kingdom
was at hand, and that the baptized and redeemed should
henceforth, under the dominion of Christ, lead a blessed
life, with community of goods, without law, without magis-
tracy, and without marriage. Rothmann, Roll, Vinne,
and Stralen were baptized, and these baptized fourteen
hundred others during the next eight days. These first
emissaries from Matthys seem not to have fully expounded
the program of their leader. On January 13th appeared
two men specially commissioned by Matthys to remain in
Miinster and to take the leadership of the movement.
These were John of Leyden and Gertom Kloster. The
former was a gifted and enthusiastic young man of twenty-
three. Rothmann and the older antipedobaptist ministers
were henceforth the led rather than the leaders. The city
authorities were powerless to stay this wild enthusiasm.
The religious institutions were seized and Roman Catholics
and Lutherans alike were compelled to leave .the city.
Persecution was renewed in the Netherlands in February.
Learning of the success of his followers in Miinster, Mat-
32
INT ROD UC TIOiV.
thys announced that it had been revealed to him that
Minister and not Strassburg was the New Jerusalem. He
dispatched messengers in all directions to order the faith-
ful to meet at a particular time at some designated place.
The command came to them as the voice of God. Multi-
tudes left their homes, not knowing whither they went.
Many were seized and executed on the way to Miinster.
Thousands reached the city of promise. Matthys himself
was soon in Miinster. The city was organized as a the-
ocracy. Matthys is said to have proposed the slaughter
of all the ungodly that remained in the city, but was op-
posed by Knipperdollinck, who had long been a leader of
the social democracy, and whose influence in the new king-
dom was great. The city was well fortified and was de-
fended with the utmost determination. Messengers were
sent out in every direction to proclaim the setting up of
the kingdom of God in Miinster. In April, Matthys was
slain in attacking the besiegers. John of Leyden soon
declared that he had received a divine command to be
king, and he dare not disobey. Polygamy was introduced
in obedience to another supposed divine intimation. A
reign of terror ensued,, in which the wildest license on the
one hand and the most absolute despotism on the other
prevailed. For more than a year the w^retched fanatics
were able to resist the bishop and his allies. At last the
siege was broken and rebellion was suppressed in the most
summary manner.
The Miinster kingdom furnished an excuse for the in-
tensifying of persecution throughout Europe. Persecu-
tion extended to Moravia, and for a time threatened utter-
ly to destroy this flourishing branch of the antipedobap-
tist brotherhood.
Among Dutch antipedobaptists that refused to follow
THE MEXXOXITES. 33
the lead of Matthys were Dirk and Obbe Phillips and
Leonard Bouwens, of East Friesland. Under the leader-
ship of Menno Simons, supported by these brethren, the
quiet antipedobaptists of the Netherlands, the lower Rhen-
ish regions, and the regions bordering on the East Sea,
were, after the Munster uproar, gathered into a firmly
cemented union (1537 onward). Menno was a well-edu-
cated Catholic priest, who had become interested in Prot-
estantism as early as 1523 and had been deeply impressed
by the martyrdom of Sicke Frierichs, an Anabaptist, in
153 1. As early as 1533 he seems to have entered into
relations with the Anabaptists without abandoning his
position as Roman Catholic priest. He used all his influ-
ence to dissuade the Anabaptists from the rash measures
that culminated in the Miinster kingdom. In 1536 he
withdrew from the Catholic Church, and in the following
year was led by the entreaties of the quiet Anabaptists,
and his conviction of their sore need of help, to assume the
leadership. The Mennonites, as the party afterward came
to be called, repudiated with the utmost decision all fanat-
ical and revolutionary measures, and denied any connec-
tion with the abominations of Munster. They adopted in
almost every detail the principles and practices of the
medieval Waldenses and Bohemian Brethren, along with
a far more decided maintenance of believers' baptism.
They enjoyed for some time a considerable measure of
toleration in the Netherlands and neighboring regions, and
soon grew into a strong party. Dissension arose chiefly
in regard to discipline, and toward the close of the six-
teenth and the early part of the seventeenth century
Socinianism made a deep impression on the party ; but
not\\ithstanding much persecution and frequent schisms,
Mennonism has maintained itself \yith slight changes, till
34
INTROD UCriON.
the present time, and still flourishes in the Old and in the
New World.
As early as 1530 persecuted antipedobaptists from the
Continent seem to have taken refuge in England and anti-
pedobaptist literature to have been there in circulation. The
terrible persecutions that preceded and followed the Miin-
ster kingdom drove multitudes of Dutch Anabaptists to
England, where rapidly developing manufacturing enter-
prise offered to skilled Dutch artisans a welcome means of
maintenance, while their strange tongue shielded them to
some extent from persecution. A considerable number
were detected from time to time, and executions and ban-
ishments were not infrequent; but it is certain that their
numbers continued to be considerable and that they ex-
erted an important influence on English evangelical life.
Most of these earliest antipedobaptist refugees seem to
have been of the Hofmannite type, as those who were
arraigned before the authorities agreed in denying that
Christ derived his humanity from Mary. Later refugees to
England were chiefly Mennonites.
In Italy an important antitrinitarian antipedobaptist
movement flourished from 1546 (or earlier) onward.
Among the leaders were Camillo Renato, Francesco Ne-
gri, Pietro da Casah Maggiore, Tiziano, Iseppo of Asola,
Celio Secundo Curio, Hieronimo Buzano, and Pietro Ma-
nelfi. These were all educated men of high social posi-
tion. Tiziano's views may be summed up as follows: (i)
Insistence on believers' baptism; (2) rejection of magis-
tracy as inconsistent with the spirit of Christianity; (3)
maintenance of the symbolical and memorial nature of the
sacraments; (4) exaltation of the Scriptures as the only
criterion of the faith; (5) denunciation of the Roman
Church as devilish and absolutely antichristian.
In 1550 about forty Anabaptist churches in northern
Italy and the contiguous parts of Switzerland and Austria
ITALIAN AND POLISH ANABAPTISTS. 35
were in fellowship with each other and enjoyed together
the services of a general superintendent. At this date
these churches were much agitated over the question
" whether Christ was God or man." Sixty delegates from
about forty churches met in Venice for the settlement of
this question. The Old and New Testaments were ac-
cepted as fundamental authority. Thrice during the meet-
ing the Lord's Supper was solemnly celebrated. After
forty days of earnest discussion an almost unanimous decis-
ion was reached against the deity of Christ, against the
reality of good and evil angels, against the immortality of
the godless and a place of future punishment, in favor of
soul-sleeping, and against the propitiatory nature of Christ's
sufferings.
Manelfi proved a traitor and delivered up his brethren
to the Inquisition. Some escaped to Moravia, and having
learned there the way of the Lord more perfectly returned
and attempted to win their brethren to right doctrinal
views.
The religious history of Poland is closely connected with
that of Italy. The Italian thinkers who disseminated anti-
trinitarian views in Poland had doubtless been influenced
by such antitrinitarian antipedobaptists as Tiziano, Curio,
Negri, etc. So multifarious was the religious life of Po-
land during the second half of the sixteenth century that
toleration was a necessity, Lutherans, Reformed, Bohe-
mian Brethren, Anabaptists, and antitrinitarians existed
side by side, each party having its supporters among the
nobility. It may suffice here to say that antipedobaptist
antitrinitarianism became, after a prolonged struggle, the
dominant type of religion and was embodied in the Ra-
covian Catechism, first published in 1605, but prepared
some years earlier. This document contains an admirable
definition of baptism, entirely in accord with the Baptist
view. Infant baptism is repudiated, " since we have in
36 IXTRODUCTIOX.
Scripture no command for, nor any example of," it. In
answer to the question, " What, then, is to be thought of
those who baptize infants?" the reply is, "You cannot
correctly say that they baptize infants. For they do not
baptirse them — since this cannot be done without the im-
mersion and ablution of the whole body in water, whereas
they only lightly sprinkle their heads — this rite being not
only erroneously apphed to infants, but also, through this
mistake, evidently changed."
It may here be remarked that Michael Servetus, the
antitrinitarian martyr, was a most pronounced opponent of
infant baptism.
This brief sketch of the antipedobaptist movements in
the sixteenth century may suffice to give an idea of the
character and the diversity of the religious life opprobri-
ously designated "Anabaptist." The following remarks
may prove helpful :
1. The parties designated "Anabaptist" agreed with
each other and with the medieval evangelical parties in
aiming to restore primitive Christianity, in laying stress
upon the practical teachings of Christ himself (as in the
Sermon on the Mount), in rejecting the Augustinian (Lu-
theran and Calvinistic) doctrinal system, including denial
of freewill, justification by faith alone, etc., in rejecting
oaths, warfare, capital punishment, and the exercise of
magistracy by Christians. Hubmaier differed from most
of his brethren as regards magistracy, warfare, etc.
2. Liberty of conscience was earnestly insisted upon by
Hubmaier in a special treatise, and the violation of con-
science was regarded by Anabaptists in general as abom-
inable.
3. All agreed in rejecting infant baptism and in insisting
upon believers' baptism, on the grounds that still prevail
with Baptists.
REMARKS.
17
4. Immersion was practiced at St. Gall, Augsburg,
Strassburg, and by the antitrinitarian Anabaptists of Po-
land. But the common practice among the Swiss, Aus-
trian, Moravian, and Dutch parties was affusion. The im-
portance of immersion as the act of baptism seems to have
been appreciated by few.
5. A number of speculative (mystical) thinkers com-
bined with the views common to the \'arious parties anti-
trinitarian and uni\'ersalistic views, and some (as the Ital-
ian Anabaptists) became involved in the grossest doctrinal
errors.
6. Even more baleful, if possible, was the influence of
chiliasm, beginning with Storch and Miinzer, transmitted
through Hut and Rink, gi\en wide currency by Hofmann,
and fanned into fury by Matthys. Chiliasm has no logical
connection with antipedobaptist principles and is likely to
arise at any time among earnest men dri\'en to despair by
persecution. The great mass of those who took part in
the Miinster kingdom had adopted antipedobaptist views
simply because they were presented to them in connection
with a social scheme that promised relief from their bur-
dens, the destruction of their oppressors, and a glorious
earthly life. Under circumstances such as existed in
1533—35 chiliasm inevitably leads to fanaticism. It may
well be questioned whether it is safe under any circum-
stances to tamper with a mode of religious thought in
which so dire possibilities inhere. The extent to which
the Baptist cause has been impeded b}' the Miinster king-
dom is incalculable. The Baptist name is odious through-
out continental Europe to-day because of it. In England
and in America the opponents of Baptists long urged their
extermination on the grounci that they might be expected
to reenact the horrors of Miinster.
38 INTRODUCTION.
V. THE ENGLISH GENERAL BAPTISTS.^
The traditions according to which Baptist churches, as
distinct from congregations of Dutch Mennonites, existed
in England prior to 1609 seem to be unsupported by any
evidence that the historian can accept. It is possible that
some Welsh congregations of the ancient British type, or
some Lollard congregations, practiced believers' baptism
in the sixteenth century or earlier, but decisive evidence
is wanting. Robert Browne, probably under Mennonite
influence, adopted congregational views and insisted on
liberty of conscience (1580 onward). He is said to have
been intimately associated with the Dutch population of
Norwich, among whom w^ere many Mennonites, and it is
probable that his church was composed in part of those
who had been under Mennonite teaching. Persecution
soon drove Browne and part of his congregation to Mid-
delburg, Zeeland, where again he had ample opportunity
to mature his views under Mennonite influence. The
congregation was broken up by internal dissension, and
Browne, probably losing his mental poise, returned to the
Church of England and died in disgrace ; but he had given
currency among English evangelicals to principles that
were to bear fruit, notwithstanding the defection of their
annunciator. Other small separatist congregations were
formed in London as early as 1587 or 1588. Severe per-
secution and the execution of Barrowe, Greenwood, and
Penry, caused the exodus of many of the separatists to
Holland (1593 onward), and a large congregation of Eng-
lish exiles was gathered in Amsterdam under Francis
Johnson and Henry Ainsworth (1595 onward). It may
1 See, on the General Baptists, Evans, Goadby, Taylor, Crosby, Ivimey,
Barclay, Dexter (" John Smyth "), Hanbury, De Hoop Schiiffer, Weingarten,
and the Ilanscrd Knollys Society's pul)lications, as in the P)il)liography.
ENGLISH GENERAL BAPTLSTS. 39
be remarked that Barrowe, Johnson, and Ainsworth, in
different degrees, receded from the radical position of
Browne as regards church government and Hberty of con-
science, adopting instead a semipresbyterian pohty and
recognizing the right of magistrates to suppress erroneous
teaching and practice.
About 1602 John Smyth, a Cambridge graduate and
one of the most scholarly men of his time, gathered a sep-
aratist church at Gainsborough. About 1606 pastor and
congregation emigrated to Amsterdam and established
themselves side by side with the older English congrega-
tion as the " Second English Church at Amsterdam." A
modern writer ^ unfriendly to Smyth's principles thus char-
acterizes him : " Clearly he w^as an impulsive man, with
something magnetic in his popular sympathies and gifts
strongly attaching his friends to himself; able to turn his
hand to more than one thing; unselfish and charitable;
punctilious and courageous ; never ashamed to own any
wrong in himself which he discovered ; a good preacher,
and a scholar of considerable acquirements — having, in
short, many of the elements of a great and good man.
On the other hand, his mind was restless, and perhaps his
conscience morbidly .sensitive to small matters," etc.
Before removing to Amsterdam Smyth had already em-
braced views of church polity nearer to those of Browne
and of modern Congregationalists and Baptists than were
those of Johnson or Ainsworth. In 1608 he came into
controversy with the brethren of the older congregation
with reference to the use of translations of the Bible in
the worship of God. He objected to these on the ground
tliat they were apocryphal and not the pure word of God.
To meet his view every conductor of divine worship must
1 Dexter, " John Smyth," p. 3. INIuch of the material here presented with
reference to Smyth is derived from this schohirly work.
40
INTRODUCTIOX.
be SO skilled in Greek and Hebrew as to be able to extem-
porize a translation for the benefit of the unlearned. He
held that " reading out of a book ... is no part of spirit-
ual worship, but rather the invention of the man of sin " ;
that " in time of prophesying it is unlawful to have the
book as a help before the eye " ; and that " seeing singing
a psalm is a part of spiritual worship, therefore it is un-
lawful to have the book before the eye in time of singing
a psalm." " The triformed presbytery, consisting of three
kinds of elders," he held to be " none of God's ordinance,
but man's device " ; he maintained that " lay elders (so
called) are antichristian " ; and insisted that " in contributing
to the church treasury there ought to be both a separation
from them that are without and a sanctification of the
whole action by prayer and thanksgiving."
In most of these points Smyth undoubtedly made a
wrong and impracticable application of principles ; but
underlying all v/as the profound conviction of the sole
authority of Scripture as it was divinely given, and of the
necessity of eliminating from the worship of God every-
thing non-spiritual.
Early in 1609 (N. S.) Smyth reached the conviction
that infant baptism, as lacking Scriptural authorization, was
to be rejected as a human invention that makes void an
ordinance of Christ ; nay, that it was a " mark of the
beast." In this he had the sympathy and support of his
church. Having reached the con\-iction that the church
of Johnson and Ainsworth was " a false church, falsely
constituted in the baptizing of infants and their own un-
baptized estate," Smyth and his followers " dissolved their
church, . . . and Mr. Smyth, being pastor thereof, gave
over his office, as did also the deacons, and devised to
enter into a new communion by renouncing their former
baptism."
ENGLISH GKXERAL BAPTISTS. 4 1
According to the unanimous testimony of contempora-
ries and his own apparent admission, Smyth first baptized
himself, then Thomas Helwys, and afterward the rest of
the company. It is ahnost certain that the rite was ad-
ministered by affusion and not by immersion. His oppo-
nents make no reference to the form of the rite, which
they would almost certainly have done if it had deviated
from current practice ; and the entire harmony of Smyth
and his party in this matter with the Mennonites, who at
this time practiced affusion, would seem decisive in favor
of the supposition that they conformed to the common
practice. The chief reproach that the opponents of Smyth
and his brethren sought to cast upon the new organization
was that of introducing baptism anew and of se-baptism.
The following is Smyth's answer to the reproach of in-
stability : " To change a false religion is commendable and
to retain a false religion is damnable. For a man of a
Turk to become a Jew, of a Jew to become a Papist, of a
Papist to become a Protestant, are all commendable changes
though they all of them befall one and the same person
in one year ; nay, if it were in one month : so that not to
change religion is evil simply ; and therefore, that we
should fall from the profession of Puritanism to Brownism,
and from Brovv^nism to true Christian baptism, is not sim-
ply evil or reprovable in itself, except it be proved that
we have fallen from true religion ; if we, therefore, being
formerly deceived in the way of pedobaptistry, now do
embrace the truth in the true Christian apostolic baptism,
then let no man impute this as a fault unto us."
Smyth justified his act in instituting baptism anew on
grounds entirely satisfactory to modern Baptists. He
claimed that he and his followers had just as much right
to " baptize themselves " as his opponents had " to set up
a true church." " For if a true church," he proceeds,
42
INTRODUCTIOX.
" may be erected, whicli is the most noble ordinance of
tlie New Testament, then much more baptism. ... If
they must recover them, men must begin so to do, and
then two men joining together may make a church." He
maintained that " any man raised up after the apostasy of
antichrist, in tlie recovering of the cliurch by baptism,"
may " administer it upon himself in communion with
others." The necessity for this procedure lay in the fact
" that there was no church to whom we could join with a
good conscience to have baptism from them."
It is probable that Smyth's rejection of infant baptism
was due in some measure to the influence of the Mennon-
ites, who were numerous and well established in Amster-
dam. A few months after the introduction of believers'
baptism and the reorganization of the church, Smyth, un-
fortunately, became convinced that he had made a serious
mistake in introducing baptism anew. Under the in-
fluence of the Socinianizing Mennonism of the time and
place he adopted the Mennonite (Hofmannite) view of
Christ's human nature, denied original sin and the imputa-
tion of Adam's sin, insisted that men are justified partly by
their own inherent righteousness, and maintained that the
church and ministry must come by succession, that an elder
of one church is an elder of all churches in the world, and
that magistrates may not be members of Christ's church
and retain their magistracy. For these errors he and his
followers were excluded by a majority of the church he
had founded, under the leadership of Thomas Helwys and
John Murton. The excluded members to the number of
thirty-two made application to the Mennonite Church for
admission, humbly confessing and repenting of their error
in having undertaken " to baptize themselves contrary to
the order laid down by Christ." Helwys and his party
besought the Mennonite brethren to take wise counsel —
GENERAL BAPTISTS. 43
and that from God's word — " how you deal in this cause
betwixt us and those that are justly for their sins cast out
from us." The Mennonites had become exceedingly cau-
tious from past experience, and postponed action until
they could consult with brethren outside of Amsterdam.
On various pretexts Smyth and his party were long re-
fused admission. A Mennonite brother provided them
with a meeting-place, and they continued to sustain
friendly but not organic relations with the Mennonite
Church until 1614, two years after Smyth's death.
Helwys and Murton took a most pronounced stand
against Smyth's insistence on apostolic succession, declar-
ing that succession " is antichrist's chief hold, and that it is
Jewish and ceremonial, an ordinance of the Old Testament,
but not of the New." " How dare any man or men," they
add in their letter to the Mennonites from which the above
is taken, " challenge unto themselves a preeminence here-
in, as though the Spirit of God was only in their hearts,
and the word of God only to be fetched at their mouths,
and the ordinance of God only to be had from their hands,
except they were apostles? . . . This is contrary to the
liberty of the gospel, which is free for all men at all times
and in all places." They likewise took strong exception
to the position "that elders must ordain elders." "If
this be a perpetual rule," they ask the Mennonites,
"then from whom is your eldership come? And if one
church might once ordain, then why not all churches
always? "
From the exclusion of Smyth and his adherents onward,
Helwys and Murton were the leaders of what afterward
came to be known as the General Baptists. Smyth con-
tinued till his death to antagonize pedobaptism, and few
have ever presented the Baptist argument in a more con-
vincing manner. Smyth claimed that the English sepa-
44
INTRODUCTION.
ratists had placed themselves in a position that they could
not consistently hold. They had renounced the Church
of England as apostate, and yet had been content with
the baptism and the ordination that they had received
in connection with that body ; they claimed to be striv-
ing to set up churches of the regenerate, but continued to
baptize infants, and without claiming that they were re-
generated thereby, to give them a c^uasi- membership in
their churches. Some of the opponents of Smyth, appar-
ently under the influence of his arguments, abandoned the
extreme separatist position in favor of what is known as
semi-separatism.
Smyth and Helwys, and the followers of the latter,
were equally clear in their apprehension and statement of
the Baptist doctrine of liberty of conscience. In a long-
confession of faith prepared apparently by Smyth about
1611, Art. 84 reads: "That the magistrate is not by vir-
tue of his office to meddle with religion or matters of con-
science, to force or compel men to this or that form of
religion or doctrine, but to leave Christian religion free to
every man's conscience, and to handle only civil trans-
gressions (Rom. xiii.), injuries, and wrongs of man against
man, in murder, adultery, theft, etc., for Christ only is the
king and lawgiver of the church and conscience (James
iv. 12)." Helwys wrote: " The king is a mortal man and
not God, therefore hath no power over the immortal souls
of his subjects, to make laws and ordinances for them, and
to set spiritual lords over them. If the king have author-
ity to make spiritual lords and laws, then he is an immortal
God and not a mortal man."
Helwys became convinced that fidelity to Christ required
that he should proclaim the truth to his owai countrymen
in England, and that to remain in exile was cowardly.
GEXERAL BAPTISTS. 45
Flight from persecution, he believed, " had been the over-
throw of religion in this island ; the best, ablest, and greater
part being gone, and leaving behind them some few who,
by the others' departure, have had their affliction and
contempt increased, hath been the cause of many falling
back, and of their ad\ersaries' rejoicing." In 161 1 or 1612
he returned to England with most or all of his followers,
and the church took up its abode in London. It was this
company of believers who set forth from 1614 onward those
noble pleas for liberty of conscience that expounded the
doctrine with a fullness and persuasiveness not greatly
surpassed even by Roger Williams, and to which Williams
himself seems to have been greatly indebted. '^
Helwys did not go so far as Smyth in the direction of
Socinianism, but wrote vigorously in defense of the posi-
tion " that God's decree is not the cause of any man's sin
or condemnation, and that all men are redeemed by Christ ;
as also that no infants are condemned." He took a de-
cided position, in opposition to the Mennonites, in favor
of the true humanity of Christ and in favor of magistracy
as an ordinance of God which " deBarreth not any from
being of the church of Christ." Helwys's tract against
flight from persecution was elaborately answered by John
Robinson, to whose citations we are indebted for our
knowledge of this document. A number of his writings
have been preserved, but are very rare.
Fortunately a considerable body of correspondence be-
tween the English Baptists and the Mennonites of Holland,
dating from 1624 to 1626, has been preserved in the
archives of the Mennonite church of Amsterdam, and has
been made available. From this correspondence the fol-
1 Tracts on lilierty of conscience, in the Hanserd Knoliys Society's col-
lection.
46 INTR on uc riox.
lowing facts may be gathered or inferred: (i) That Hel-
wys had passed away and that John Murton (or Morton)
was now their chief leader. (2) That there were five con-
gregations in close fellowship, viz., in London, Lincoln,
Sarum, Coventry, and Tiverton. (3) That the London
church had excommunicated one Elias Tookey, with a
number of his followers, on account of their opinion about
bearing with and tolerating the weak or those of little
understanding in scriptural matters, who, however, were
very conscientious in everything they knew, and peaceful
and quiet in the church. From Tookey's own letter it
would seem that some of the weak ones he desired to tol-
erate were deniers of the deity of Christ. It seems prob-
able that Tookey's own views on this subject were Socin-
ian rather than Trinitarian. This transaction would seem
to show that the great majority of the English Baptists at
this time laid considerable stress on right doctrinal views
with respect to the person of Christ. (4) That both par-
ties were eager to secure recognition by the Mennonites of
Holland, and to enter into union with them. It is evident
that now at last, after Helwys's death, the principles of
Smyth had come to prevail. These Baptists were willing to
yield much in order to secure the consent of the Mennonites
to a union. The strength and dignity of the Mennonite
churches, and the ability of their ministers, as well as the
generosity of these earnest godly people toward the im-
poverished English exiles, had profoundly impressed the
latter, and they felt the need of the moral support that
the union would bring to their persecuted churches in
England. (5) They differed from the Mennonites in a
number of matters, but these differences, so far as they
could not be explained away, they besought their Dutch
friends to tolerate, at least for a time. The chief differ-
ences seem to have been with reference to oaths, magis-
GENERAL BAPTISTS. 47
tracy, warfare, and the weekly celebration of the Lord's
Supper. The Mennonites celebrated the Supper once or
twice a year and were opposed to the weekly celebration ;
the English found great comfort in the weekly celebration
and pleaded earnestly to be tolerated in this practice. The
English did not see their way to reject oaths, magistracy,
and warfare entirely, and asked for toleration of slight dif-
ferences of opinion in these matters also. The Mennonites
limited the administration of the ordinances to such as had
received ordination ; the English sought to explain their
practice as substantially in accord with that of the Men-
nonites, but they would extend the privilege of adminis-
tering the ordinances, in the absence of an ordained min-
ister, to teachers and evangelists recognized as such by
the church. The efforts at union would seem to have
been unsuccessful. The Mennonites were too inflexible
in their positions to make compromises.
After 1626 the General Baptists made rapid progress.
By 1644 they are said to have had forty-seven churches,
and by 1660 their membership had reached about 20,000.
During the eighteenth century they shared in the general
decline of religious life, and their Arminian principles made
them peculiarly susceptible to the deadening influence of
Socinianism. Most of their churches became openly Uni-
tarian. As a result of the great revival under the leader-
ship of the Wesleys and Whitefield the New Connection of
General Baptists was formed in 1760 on an evangelical
basis. As thus reorganized they still constitute a respect-
able party in England, and are now closely associated with
the Particular Baptists.
48 INTRODUCTIO.Y.
VI. THE ENGLISH PARTICULAR BAPTISTS.^
The appellative " Particular" as applied to Baptists has
reference to their doctrine of redemption as limited to the
elect, in contradistinction to the doctrine of universal re-
demption from which the General Baptists derived their
designation. The rise of the Particular Baptists was as
follows: in 1616 Henry Jacob, an Oxford graduate, who
had been converted to Congregational views by Francis
Johnson, and who had been for some years pastor of an
English congregation at Middelburg, Zeeland, returned to
England with a number of his church-members, and settled
at Southwark, London. He doubtless soon gathered into
his congregation the scattered members of earlier churches,
so far as these had survived and remained in the vicinity.
Jacob's church was to be the mother of the English Inde-
pendents and of the Particular Baptists as well. Discour-
aged by the threatening aspect of ecclesiastical affairs,
Jacob emigrated to Virginia in 1624. He was succeeded
in the pastorate by John Lathrop, a Cambridge graduate.
Pastor and people sufifered almost constant persecution
under Archbishop Laud. In 1632 forty of the members,
including the pastor, were thrown into prison. Lathrop
was released in 1634, but felt obliged to emigrate to New
England. During Lathrop's pastorate a number withdrew
" because the congregation kept not to their first principles
of separation," and because they were " convinced that
baptism was not to be administered to infants, but only to
such as professed faith in Christ."
According to an account attributed to William Klffin, a
prominent actor in a later secession and afterward one of
1 See Evans, (lould, Crosl)y, Ivimey, Masson, and tlic Ilansenl KnoIIys
Society's publications.
rARTICL'LAR BAPTISTS. 49
the most influential of the Particular Baptist leaders, " the
church, considering that they were now grown very numer-
ous, and so more than could, in these times of persecution,
conveniently meet together, and believing also that those
persons acted from a principle of conscience and not ob-
stinacy, agreed to allow them the liberty they desired, and
that they should be constituted a distinct church, which
they performed the 12th of September, 1633. And as
they believed that baptism was not rightly administered
to infants, so they looked upon the baptism they had
received in that age as invalid ; whereupon most or all of
them received a new baptism. Their minister was Mr.
John Spilsbury."
According to a record of the original church, in 1638
seven others, whose names are given, " desiring to depart
and not to be censured, our interest in them was remitted,
with prayer made in their behalf, . . . they having first
forsaken us and joined with Mr. Spilsbury."
Spilsbury felt no difficulty about the new introduction
of believers' baptism, maintaining that " baptizedness is
not essential to the administrator," and repudiating the
demand for apostolic succession as leading logically to
" the popedom of Rome."
The Baptist leaven would continue to work in this con-
gregation until the whole mass should have been leavened.
According to the " Kiffin Manuscript," " 1640, 3d month.
The church became two by mutual consent, just half being
with Mr. P. Barebone, and the other half with Mr. H.
Jessey. Mr. Richard Blunt with him, being convinced of
baptism, that also it ought to be by dipping the body into
the water, resembling burial and rising again (Col. ii. 12;
Rom. \i. 4), had sober conference about it in the church ;
and then with some of the forenamed, who also were so
convinced, and after prayer and conference about their so
so
INTROD UCTIOX.
enjoying it, none having then so practiced in England to
professed believers, and hearing that some in the Nether-
lands had so practiced, they agreed and sent over Mr.
Richard Blunt (who understood Dutch) with letters of com-
mendation, who was kindly accepted there, and returned
with letters from them, John Batte, a teacher there and
from that church, to such as sent him. 1641. They pro-
ceed on therein — viz., those persons that were persuaded
baptism should be by dipping the body had met in tw^o
companies and did intend so to meet after this ; all these
agreed to proceed alike together, and then manifesting
(not by any formal words) a covenant (which word w^as
scrupled by some of them), but by mutual desires and
agreement each testified, these two companies did set
apart one to baptize the rest, so it was solemnly performed
by them. Mr. Blunt baptized Mr. Blacklock, that was a
teacher amongst them, and Mr. Blunt being baptized, he
and Mr. Blacklock baptized the rest of their friends that
were so minded, and many being added to them, they in-
creased much."
Among those who seceded with Spilsbury in 1633, and
who were immersed in 1641, was Mark Lukar, who was
afterward to occupy the position of ruling elder and to be
a leading worker in John Clarke's church at Newport, R. I.,
of which he was "one of the first founders" (Felt), and
who died at Newport at an advanced age in 1676, " leav-
ing the character of a very w^orthy walker." This point of
connection between the earliest Particular Baptist church
of England and one of the two earliest American Baptist
churches has hitherto, so far as the writer is aware, been
overlooked, and is of considerable importance.
William Kithn was not of the number baptized on the
occasion referred to, but seems to have become a leader
among the immersionists during 1642 ; for in October of
PARTICULAR BAPTISTS. 5 I
this year he took part in a disputation with Dr. Featley at
Southwark. Kiffin, besides ministering to a congregation
and taking a leading part in denominational matters, was
greatly prospered in trade and became possessed of ample
means, which he used with liberality for the advancement
of the Baptist cause.
In 1643 further trouble arose in Jessey's church on the
matter of infant baptism. Hanserd Knollys had returned
from New England and had become a member of this
church. Kiffin's account of the matter is as follows :
" Hanserd Knollys, our brother, not being satisfied for
baptizing his child, after it had been endeavored by the
elder and by one or two more, himself referred to the
church then, that they might satisfy him or he rectify
them if amiss herein : which was well accepted. Hence
meetings were appointed for conference about it." Kiffin
was engaged in these conferences, which lasted from Jan-
uar)^ II till March 17, 1644 (N. S.), "the issue whereof
was the conviction of sixteen members against pedobap-
tism." These withdrew, Jessey and his friends agreeing:
" (i) Not to excommunicate, no, nor admonish, which is
only to obstinate. (2) To count them still of our church
and pray [for] and love them. (3) Desire conversing to-
gether so far as their principles permit them."
There is something delightful about the good-will with
which these successive divisions occurred. A parallel case
would be difficult to find.
Kiffin seems to have organized a new church some time
during the year 1644. By October of this year there
were seven Particular l^aptist churches, on whose behalf
Kiffin, Patience, Spilsbury, and others signed a " Confes-
sion of Faith, of those churches which are commonly
(though falsely) called Anabaptists." The aim of the
confession was purely apologetical. Baptists had been
5-
INTRODUCTIOX.
accused in a number of polemical writings of holding to
the most monstrous errors, and of being capable, under
favorable circum.stances, of perpetrating the atrocities of
Miinster. The document is a clear setting forth of Calvin-
istic doctrine, along with a statement of baptist views on
the ordinances. To guard against even the semblance of
sacerdotalism it is stated that " the person designed by
Christ to dispense baptism the Scripture holds forth to be
a disciple ; it being nowhere tied to a particular church-
officer or person extraordinarily sent, the commission en-
joining the administration being given to them as consid-
ered disciples, being men able to preach the gospel." The
confession is in almost every detail in thorough accord
with the views of modern American Baptists.
In 1645 Henry Jessey himself, pastor of the original
Congregational church from which the materials for seven
Baptist churches had gone forth, was baptized by Hanserd
Knollys. Part of the remaining membership followed his
example, while a part still adhered to infant baptism but
retained their membership in the mixed church.
By 1646, when a second edition of the confession was
issued, a French Particular Baptist church had been added.
A few remarks seem called for by the obscurity of some
of the statements quoted above. It is not possible out of
the material that has thus far come to light to trace in de-
tail the evolution of the seven churches that signed the
confession of 1644. The statement quoted from the so-
called " Kiffin Manuscript" with reference to the division
of 1640 involves a number of difficulties. P. Barebone,
with whom half of the church withdrew, has commonly
been regarded by Baptist writers as a Baptist. Yet in
1642 he published " A Discourse tending to prove the
Baptism in, or under, the Defection of Antichrist to be
the Ordinance of Jesus Christ, as also that the Baptism of
PARTICULAR BAPTISTS. 53
Infants or Children is Warrantable, and Agreeable to the
Word of God," and in 1643 and 1644 he published other
polemical tracts against antipedobaptism. If in 1641 he
was the leader of the antipedobaptist and immersionist
half of the dividing congregation he must soon after have
abandoned his position. This is, of course, possible.
From the construction of the sentence Jessey might be
taken to be the leader of the Baptist half; but it appears
that Jessey did not become a Baptist till five years later.
This difficulty seems inexplicable without further materials.
The party in Holland from whom Blunt received bap-
tism were the Rhynsburgers or Collegiants, a party derived
probably from the Socinian antipedobaptists (1619), and,
like them, practicing immersion. They had much in com-
mon with the Plymouth Brethren of the present century,
laying great stress on freedom of prophesying, having no
regular ministry, and baptizing freely, without doctrinal
examination, those who professed faith in Christ. It seems
not a little strange that these English Calvinistic Baptists
should have thought their position improved by receiving
baptism from such a source.
It was an almost inevitable consequence of the circum-
stances under which these churches were formed that open
communion should have been to some extent practiced.
The separations were from the beginning peaceful, and
when the pastor of the original congregation became a
Baptist, pedobaptist members remained in the church.
Mixed churches involved open communion. William
Kiffin became a staunch advocate of restricted commun-
ion; Henry Jessey, John Tombes, John Bunyan, and
others advocated and practiced open communion. Re-
stricted communion gained ground during the eighteenth
century; but toward the close of that century and dur-
ing the present century, under the influence of Robert
54
INTRODUCTION.
Robinson, Robert Hall, and Charles H. Spurgeon, open
communion has become very general among English, but
not among Welsh and Scotch, Baptists. Yet the number
of close-communion churches in England is still consider-
able.
From 1645 until the Revolution (1688) the Particular
Baptists rapidly increased in numbers and influence. In
the Parliamentary army a large proportion of officers and
soldiers were Baptists. Through the army Baptist churches
were founded in Ireland and Scotland. Through the ef-
forts of men like John Myles and Vavasour Powell, Baptist
principles were planted in Wales, which proved highly
fruitful soil. Baptists are said to have been chiefly instru-
mental in preventing Cromwell from assuming the dignity
and prerogatives of royalty. They became greatly dissat-
isfied with Cromwell's military government, and many of
them were prepared to aid in the restoration of Charles II.,
who was lavish in his promises of toleration. John Milton
was an antipedobaptist and an advocate of believers' bap-
tism, but there is no evidence of his having connected
himself with a Baptist church. A number of prominent
Baptists (including Jessey, Tombes, Dyke, and Myles) joined
heartily in Cromwell's state-church scheme, acting as mem-
bers of his Board of Tryers to pass upon the qualifications
of candidates for the ministry, and accepting pastorates of
state- endowed churches.
Under Charles II. Baptists suffered severe persecution,
along with other dissenting parties. The imprisonment of
John Bunyan, which is familiar, is a sample of what Bap-
tists had to endure from the execution of the Act of Uni-
formity, the Conventicle Act, the Five-mile Act, and the
Corporation and Test Acts.
With the Act of Toleration, under William and Mary
(1689), a period of religious depression set in. At this
PARTICULAR BAPTISTS. 55
time the Particular Baptists numbered many thousands.
More than a hundred churches united in adopting a Bap-
tist recension of the Westminster Confession, which has
proved the most important and influential confession ever
put forth by Baptists. In a slightly modified form it has
been widely accepted by American Baptists as " the Phil-
adelphia Confession."
During the eighteenth century the Particular Baptists
made little progress. In opposition to the current Socin-
ianism a hard and barren hyper- Calvinism was developed,
in accordance with which evangelistic efifort is an imperti-
nence. Through the influence of the evangelical revival
of the middle of the eighteenth century the Calvinism of
John Gill and John Brine gradually gave way to the more
benignant teaching of Andrew Fuller and Robert Hall, and
the great missionary movement inaugurated by William
Carey became a possibility. PVom this time onward Eng-
lish Baptists have had a highly honorable history, though
their American brethren are convinced that their progress
has been hindered by the prevalence of open communion.
Particular and General Baptists have gradually ap-
proached each other until the union of the two bodies has
been virtually consummated, and the distinctive names will
doubtle-ss soon be dropped. The Baptists of all parties in
Britain number (1893) 342,507, of whom a large majority
are of the Particular Baptist stock.
The relations of English Baptists to those of America
have naturally been most intimate. Nearly all of the early
American churches had among their constituent members
those who had belonged to English Baptist churches, and
nearly all received accessions from the mother-country
from time to time. Through their generous beneficence,
and their literature also, the English Baptists have pro-
foundlv influenced those of the New World. It need
56 INTRODUCTIUX.
hardly be said tliat in later times the influence through
literature and otherwise has been reciprocal. During the
American Revolution English Baptists as a body sympa-
thized deeply with their American brethren in their strug-
gle for civil and religious liberty, regarding their own
liberty in England as involved in the issue. ^
1 See letter of Dr. Rippon to President Manning in " Baptist Memorial,"
vol. iv., p. 133.
PERIOD I.
FROM THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FIRST BAPTIST
CHURCH IN AMERICA TO THE GREAT
AWAKENING (1639- 1740).
57
THE BAPTISTS.
CHAPTER I.
ROGER WILLIAMS AND LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE.^
To Roger Williams belongs the distinction of being the
first in America to introduce believers' baptism and to or-
ganize a church on Baptist principles. He was probably
born in London about 1600."- Under the patronage of
Sir Edward Coke, the famous jurist, he was educated at
Sutton's Hospital and at the University of Cambridge,
proceeding Bachelor of Arts in 1627. Whether during or
shortly after the completion of his university course, he
was led to adopt rigorous separatist principles. The Eng-
land of 1630 was no place for nonconformists. In Decem-
ber of that year he set sail for New England, hoping there
to be permitted to enjoy a measure of soul liberty denied
him at home, and not without expectation of being able to
exert some wholesome influence on the development of the
1 On this and the following chapter see " Pub. Nar. CI." ; " Rec. of the
Col. of R. I.," i. ; Arnold, i. ; Caldwell in " Bapt. Qu.," 1872, pp. 385 s,-(].,
"Hist. Disc.," and "His. First Bap. Ch. in Prov. ; " Dexter, "As to
R. W. ; " W^inthrop ; Backus, " Hist. ; " Knowles ; Gammell ; Straus; Bar-
rows in " Bap. Qu.," 1876, pp. 353 seq.; Hubbard; Hutchinson; Lechford;
Mather ; and Comer.
2 " New Eng. Gen. Register," 1S89, pp. 291 seij. Straus favors 1607 as
the year of his Ijirth.
59
5o THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
New World. " Truly it was as bitter as death to me," he
wrote some years later to the daughter of Sir Edward
Coke, " when Bishop Laud pursued me out of this land,
and my conscience was persuaded against the national
church and ceremonies and bishops, beyond the conscience
of your dear father. I say it was as bitter as death to me,
when I rode Windsor way to take ship at Bristol, and saw
Stoke House, where the blessed man was, and I then durst
not acquaint him with my conscience and my flight."
There can be no doubt but that he made considerable
sacrifice, not in sentiment alone, but in position and pros-
pects as well, in thus loyally following the dictates of con-
science. " God knows," he wrote forty years afterward,
" what gains and preferments I have refused in universities,
city, country, and court in Old England, and something
in New England, to keep my soul undefiled in this point,
and not to act with a doubting conscience." He was not
only an accomplished scholar (he was familiar with the
Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Dutch, and French languages),
but he had a dignity of bearing, an eloquence and persua-
siveness of tongue and pen, and a force of character, that,
apart from his influential connections, would have com-
manded for him the highest positions at home or abroad.
Landing in New England in February, 1631, an at-
tractive opening almost immediately presented itself. The
pastor of the Boston church was returning to England and
Williams was invited to supply his place. Did he accept
the invitation ? Far from it. The Boston church was " an
unseparated church," and he "durst not officiate to" it.
He was prompted to gi\e utterance, while in Boston, to a
conviction, formed no doubt long before — familiar and com-
monplace now, startling and revolutionary then and there —
that the magistrate may not punish any sort of " breach of
the first table," such as idolatry. Sabbath-breaking, false
Chap, i.] ROGER WILLIAMS. 6 1
worship, blasphemy, etc. ; and he had thus succeeded in
convincing" the leading- men of the colony that he was an
impracticable and dangerous man — all the more dangerous
because of his splendid gifts and his unswerving loyalty to
conscience. It was only what might have been expected,
when the Salem church a few months later invited him to
be their teacher, that six of the leading men of Boston
should have sent a joint letter of warning to Governor
Endicott of Salem. Thus prevented from settling at
Salem, he betook himself to the older and more thor-
oughly separatist Plymouth colony, where he was cordially
received, and soon became associated as teacher with Ralph
Smith, pastor of the church. Here he remained about two
years. According to Go\'ernor Bradford, " his teaching-
was well approved, for the benefit whereof I still bless
God, and am thankful to him even for his sharpest ad-
monitions and reproofs, so far as they agreed with truth."
According to Brewster, elder of the church, toward the
close of the period Williams began to " vent " " divers of
his own singular opinions," and to "seek to impose them
upon others." " Not finding such concurrence as he ex-
pected, he desired his dismission to the church of Salem,"
which, with considerable reluctance on the part of some,
was granted. It is certain that the influential people of
Boston were industriously fostering any spirit of dissatis-
faction that may have arisen. During his stay at Plymouth
he spent much time with the Indians, and succeeded in so
far mastering their language as to be able to converse
freely with them and afterward to write " The Key into
the Language of America," w^hich he hoped might proxe
an important aid in the evangelization of the natives of
the entire continent. His friendship with the Indians was
afterward of incalculable advantage not only to himself
but to his fellow-colonists. " Mv soul's desire," he wrote
62 77/^ BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
some time afterward, " was to do the natives good. God
was pleased to give me a painful, patient spirit to lodge
with them in their filthy, smoky holes, even when I lived
at Plymouth and Salem, to gain their tongue." So great
was his influence over them that if he had been bent on
making mere nominal Christians of them, he could, he
thought, have baptized whole tribes.
In August, 1634, he was invited to succeed Skelton in
the pastorate of the Salem church, having since his arrival
served as assistant pastor. The Boston authorities re-
monstrated, and a struggle ensued that resulted in Wil-
liams's banishment in the midst of winter, January, 1636.
Befriended by the Indians, after much hardship he reached
Narragansett Bay, where he secured land from the Indians
and established a colony on the principle of absolute lib-
erty of conscience.
The controversy of Roger Williams with the Massachu-
setts authorities that led to his banishment, and the literary
controversy that was carried on between W^iiliams and
Cotton some years after the former had established a col-
ony of his own, are matters of such importance in them-
selves, and have been the occasion of so much partisan
writing on the part of Baptists and the defenders of the
standing order alike, that a clear statement of the facts
seems here desirable. It need scarcely be said that the
idea of liberty of conscience, though it had been advocated,
as we have seen, by the antipedobaptists of the sixteenth
century, and though it had been set forth with the utmost
distinctness and emphasis by the General Baptists of Eng-
land during the twenty years just preceding Williams's
controversy with the New England authorities, had not
dawned upon the minds of the men of Massachusetts Bay.
If anybody felt impelled to teach or practice anything at
variance with the teachings and practices of the standing
CiiAi'. I.] ROGER WILLIAMS. 63
order, the world was wide and there was room enough
outside of the jurisdiction of the company ; inside he could
not remain. The year after Williams's arrival (1632) it
was enacted that, " to the end that the body of the com-
mons may be preserved of honest and good men, . . . for
the time to come no man shall be admitted to the freedom
of this body politic but such as are members of some of
the churches within the limits of the same." Exclusion
from a church meant loss of citizenship, and the General
Court was ready to execute ecclesiastical censures. We
can scarcely conceive of a more perfect equipment for the
exercise of tyranny and the violation of conscience than
existed in this small community thus theocratically organ-
ized. That this theocratic legislation was not a dead letter
on the statute-book we shall soon see.
It must be admitted, on the other hand, that men of
convictions and conscience are not always the most agree-
able members of society. The man who concentrates his
attention upon one or two matters that seem to the great
body of his contemporaries of minor moment, and advo-
cates his peculiar views in such a way as to cause division
and to bring the community into bad repute, can scarcely
expect to be cordially treated in any age or in any land.
The man who is travailing in spirit with a great revolu-
tionary idea is likely to do far less than justice to other
ideas and to existing institutions, and to act without re-
gard to immediate consequences. Roger Williams was a
man of profound convictions on a particular class of sub-
jects. To us the importance of .some of the matters upon
which he fixed his attention is manifest ; but we are forced
to admit that he was often extreme and inconsiderate in
the pressing of his convictions. The vast importance of
the absolute .separation of church and state, of complete
separation from an apostate church, and of absolute liberty
54 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
of conscience, had completely mastered his soul, and con-
siderations of expediency were as dust in the balance in
comparison. We can do him full honor for his consistent
advocacy of these principles in season and out of season,
without being unduly severe in our judgment of his op-
ponents and persecutors.
Let us look more particularly at the points in which he
came in conflict with the standing order :
1. He was an ardent separatist, regarding the Church
of England as utterly apostate, and considering it a sin to
have any sort of communion with it — a sin so grievous as
to place those guilcy of it, or who had fellowship with
those guilty of it, outside the pale of his fellowship. This
view he remorselessly pressed, from the date of his arrival
till that of his expulsion, at great self-sacrifice and to the
unspeakable discomfort of those who did not see eye to
eye with him in this matter.
2. He was radically and unalterably opposed to the
charter of the company, and regarded the colony as com-
mitting an enormous sin in living under it. He insisted
on having it returned to King Charles without delay as an
accursed thing. In his opinion it contained " matter of
falsehood and injustice — falsehood in making the king the
first Christian prince who had discovered these parts, and
injustice in giving the country to his EngHsh subjects which
belonged to the native Indians." According to his own
account of the matter, written some years later, he and
others — " not a few " — were convinced of " the sin of the
patents, wherein Christian kings (so called) are invested
with right, by virtue of their Christianity, to take and give
away the lands of other men ; as also the unchristian oaths
swallowed down at their coming forth from Old England,
especially in the superstitious Laud's time and domineer-
ing. And I know these thoughts so deeply aflflicted the
Chap, i.] ROGER IVILLLIMS. 65
soul of the discusser, in the time of his walkint^ in the way
of New Enghmd's worship, that he at hist came to a per-
suasion that such sins could not be expiated without re-
turning again into England, or a public acknowledgment
and confession of so-and-so departing. To this purpose,
before his troubles and banishment, he drew up a letter
(not without the approbation of some of the chief of New
England, then tender also upon this point before God)
directed unto the king himself, humbly acknowledging the
evil of that part of the patent which respects the donation
of land, etc. This letter and other endeavors (tending to
wash off public sins and, above all, to pacify and give glory
unto God) it may be that counsels from flesh and blood
suppressed." From Governor Winthrop's account it ap-
pears that Williams charged King James with blasphemy
for calling Europe Christendom, and applied to King
Charles some of the most opprobrious epithets in the
Apocalypse. To this, among other causes, Williams at-
tributed his banishment. When we reflect upon the ex-
treme danger in which the colony stood from unfriendly
interference on the part of the home government, it is easy
to realize the consternation into which the utterance of
such sentiments, and especially the proposal to write the
king in person, setting forth the iniquity of the patent,
must have thrown the responsible leaders of the colony.
The ordinary arguments by which the appropriation of
lands occupied by savage peoples was defended and is still
defended were used in vain on Roger Williams. The rep-
resentation of the fearful peril to which he was exposing
the colony made no impression whatever upon him. Con-
science was uttering its x'oice, and it should not, in him at
least, go unheeded.
3. Equally strong and unalterable were his convictions
afjainst the administration of oaths to the unregenerate.
66 THE BAPTISTS. [Pkk. t.
and the inviting of such to join in prayer or in any act of
worship. To protect itself against disloyal persons who
were likely to cause disharmony in the colony and to send
slanderous and injurious reports to England, it was de-
cided soon after Williams's arrival to administer an oath of
fidelity to the people indiscriminately. Most vehemently
did Williams oppose the oath, " partly," according to John
Cotton, " because it was Christ's prerogative to have his
office established by oath; partly because an oath was a
part of God's worship, and God's worship was not to be
put upon carnal persons, as he conceived many of the
people to be." "So by his tenet," Cotton proceeds,
" neither might church-members nor other godly men
take the oath, because it was the establishment, not of
Christ, but of mortal men in their office ; nor might men
out of the church take it, because in his eye they were but
carnal." Such sturdy opposition to a favorite measure
did not tend to gain for Williams the favor of the court,
especially as that self-respecting body felt itself obliged
thereby "to desist from that proceeding."
4. But the immediate and probably the most influential
causes of Williams's banishment were his defiant attitude
toward the court and the leading churches of the colony
in accepting the pastorate of the Salem church against their
earnest and oft- repeated protest, and the proceedings of
the Salem church and colony under his direction with
reference to a certain piece of land. Salem colonists peti-
tioned the Massachusetts Bay Court for a tract of land near
Marblehead to which they considered themselves entitled.
What more natural than that the court should make its
favorable action conditional on the church's making amends
for its insolent conduct in installing Williams as pastor
against the remonstrance of court and ministers? Do we
wonder that Williams and his church were thoroughly in-
Chap, i.] ROGER WILLIAMS. Gj
dignant at this undisguised attempt to influence church
action by a bribe? Wisely or unwisely, they framed a
red-hot denunciation of the procedure, and sent it to the
other churches, calling their attention to the grievous sin
committed by their members, the magistrates. The aim
of the Salem church would seem to have been to induce
the churches to compel the magistrates, by disciplinary
means, to deal righteously or else to vacate their offices.
Williams has been charged with inconsistency in being a
party to such an admonition; but it is not clear why the
Salem church was not justified in appealing to sister-
churches to discipline members that had committed griev-
ous wrong. It was not against magistrates as such, but
against off'ending church-members, that the complaint was
uttered. But however justifiable the procedure may have
been, it was certainly in the highest degree impolitic.
The churches and magistrates were irritated thereby be-
yond measure, and proceeded to labor so vigorously with
the offending church as to induce a majority to abandon
their heroic pastor and to consent to his removal. Williams
on his part was led to denounce in scathing language the
Massachusetts churches, and to renounce communion with
them. Further, he would have no fellowship with the
Salem church unless it would join him in denouncing
and disfellowshiping the other churches. A majority of
the members refusing so to do, he never entered the
church again, but held services in his own house with such
as were faithful to his principles.
The decision to banish Williams was not hastily reached.
Indeed, if we bear in mind the court's freedom from con-
scientious scruples as to the employment of force in mat-
ters of religion, and the pertinacity with which Williams
advocated views regarded as unsettling and dangerous, we
can scarcely fail to admire the forbearance of this body.
68 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
The processes that resuhed in his banishment extended
over more than a year. In December, 1634, Wilhams
was summoned to appear before the next session of the
court, to be held in the following March. The charges
preferred were those of preaching against the charter, and
his " usual terming of the Church of England antichris-
tian." John Cotton, the Boston minister, persuaded the
court " to forbear ci\'il prosecution " until the ministers
should have " dealt with him in a church way to convince
him of sin." Meanwdiile arose the difficulty as to the free-
man's oath already referred to. He was arraigned before
the court and, in the opinion of his opponents, though by
no means in his own, " confuted " by the ministers. But
the court was not prepared even yet to adopt extreme
measures. At about this time (May, 1635) the Salem
church, in defiance of the court and the ministers, proceeded
to make Williams full pastor. Williams was no doubt en-
couraged by this show of confidence to continue his sharp
denunciations of charter and oaths. In July he \vas again
summoned to court, and charged with advocating opinions
dangerous to the common welfare. Besides the matters
already mentioned, he is charged with maintaining " that
a man ought not to pray with the unregenerate," and
" that a man ought not to give thanks after the sacrament
nor after meat." The controversy about the Marblehead
land followed. A decree of banishment was issued Octo-
ber 19, 1635, to take effect within six weeks. A severe
illness, contracted while attending court, prevented the
carrying out of the decree within the appointed time, and
Williams was permitted to remain until spring, pro\-ided
he would abstain from teaching his peculiar views. It
transpired, however, that his sympathizers were in the
habit of gathering at his house, and that he was disre-
garding the restriction. Arrangements were made to
Chap, i.] A'0G£A' WILLIAMS. 69
seize him and transport him to England, where he might
experience the tender mercies of Laud. Forewarned, he
took refuge in the wilderness. He made his way to his
Indian friends, who shared with him such comforts as they
had. " I was sorely tossed for one fourteen weeks," he
wrote some time afterward, " not knowing what bread or
bed did mean." He complains bitterly in another writing
of having been " exposed to winter miseries in a howHng
wilderness." He firmly believed that if he had perished
in his wilderness wanderings his blood would have been
on the heads of his persecutors.
" If we were forced to adopt a modern designation for
him," writes Professor Masson, referring to Roger William.s,
" we should call him the father of all that has figured any-
where, in Great Britain or in the United States or in the
British colonies, under the name of voluntaryism." Else-
where he designates him as an " arch-individualist." If
by "father" is to be understood "originator," the ex-
pression is far too strong ; for, as we have seen, the Gen-
eral Baptists of England were a score of years in advance
of him in their advocacy of these very principles, and Wil-
liams's direct indebtedness to their pleas for liberty of con-
science is indisputable. But if the expression be taken to
mean that by his persistent and zealous advocacy of these
views, and by his successful embodying of them in a civil
constitution, he first brought them prominently before the
English-speaking public, and was instrumental in securing
their wide acceptance, we do not demur. Yet even in this
matter we should not forget that the honor must be divided
with John Clarke.
Roger Williams advocated the most complete separation
of church and state at a time when there was no historical
example of such separation ; nay, when to the mass of
Christian men everywhere such a separation was almost
70 THE BAPl'lSTS. [Per.i.
inconceivable. The following extracts set forth succinctly
his view of the relations of church and state :
" The civil magistrate either respecteth that religion and
worship which his conscience is persuaded is true, and
upon which he ventures his soul, or else that and those
which he is persuaded are false. Concerning the first, if
that which the magistrate believeth to be true be true, I
say he owes a threefold duty unto it: First, approbation
and countenance, a reverent esteem and honorable testi-
mony, . . . with a tender respect for truth and the pro-
fessors of it. Secondly, personal submission of his own
soul to the power of the Lord Jesus in the spiritual gov-
ernment and kingdom. Thirdly, protection of such true
professors of Christ, whether apart or met together, as also
of their estates, from violence and injury. . . . If it be a
false religion (unto which the civil magistrate doth not dare
adjoin, yet) he owes : First, permission (for approbation he
owes not to that which is evil). . . . Secondly, he owes
protection to the persons of his subjects (though of a false
worship), that no injury be offered either to the persons
or goods of any."
Here we have the gist of his contention expressed in
his own words. How ably and how voluminously he de-
fended the principles involved, by means of Scripture,
history, and reason, any one can see who will take the
trouble to read " The Bloody Tenent of Persecution,"
" The Bloody Tenent Yet More Bloody," and other minor
treatises of his bearing on this subject.
Some time after Williams's banishment the learned and
pious John Cotton felt it his duty to make one more effort
to convert him from the error of his ways. In a long
letter, afterward publislied, he attempted to justify the
New England state-church arrangement, and the employ-
ment of the civil magistracy for the execution of ecclesias-
Chap, i.] JWGEK WILLIAMS. Jl
tical censures. He refused to admit that Williams had
been hardly dealt with, and sought to throw the entire
responsibility upon Williams himself. He even attributed
the severe illness Williams suffered just after the decree
of banishment to God's displeasure with his conduct, and
suggested that he should consider banishment from a
country with whose inhabitants he could have no religious
fellowship a blessing rather than a hardship. Williams's
somewhat caustic answer to this letter was published soon
afterward. Cotton published an elaborate rejoinder, in
which he ransacked the Scriptures for materials to be used
in justifying the union of church and state and the punish-
ment of religious delinquencies by the civil magistracy.
His principal reliance was, of course, on the Old Testa-
ment; but by unnatural and forced interpretations he
sought to bring a number of New Testament passages to
the support of his position. He appealed, moreover, to
history, and endeavored to show therefrom the utter im-
practicability of laisscz faire in religion. He sought, also,
to vindicate his own consistency in separating from the
Church of England and in denouncing the Laudian regime,
and yet in New England refusing toleration to those who
differed from him. This called forth Williams's famous
" Bloody Tenent of Persecution," already mentioned. Cot-
ton replied in " The Bloody Tenent of Persecution Washed
in the Blood of the Lamb." Williams rejoined in the most
voluminous of all his works, " The Bloody Tenent Yet More
Bloody, by Mr. Cotton's Endeavor to Wash it White in the
Blood of the Eamb, of whose Precious Blood, spilt in the
Blood of His Servants, and of the Blood of Millions spilt
in former and later W^ars for Conscience' sake, that most
Bloody Tenent of Persecution for cause of Conscience,
upon a second Trial, is found now more apparently and
more notoriously guilty."
72 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
It will be impracticable for us to follow Roger Williams
in the intricacies of his argument through his thousand
pages. A few quotations bearing upon one or other as-
pect of the great question of religious liberty must suffice.
He .speaks of " that body-killing, soul-killing, and state-
killing doctrine of not permitting but persecuting all other
consciences and ways of worship but his own in the ci\il
state, and so, consequently, in the whole world, if the
power or empire were in his [Cotton'.s] hand." Again:
" Soul yokes, soul oppression, plunderings, ravishings, etc.,
are of a crimson and deepest dye, and I belie\'e the chief
of England's sins, unstopping the vials of England's pres-
ent sorrow^s." " Only tw^o things," he writes, " I shall
humbly suggest ... as the greatest causes, fountains,
and tap-roots of all the indignation of the Most High
against the state and country : First, that the whole na-
tions and generations of men have been forced (though
unregenerate and unrepentant) to pretend and assume the
name of Christ Jesus, which only belongs, according to the
institution of the Lord Jesus, to truly regenerate and re-
penting souls. Secondly, that all others dissenting from
them, whether Jews or Gentiles, their countrymen espe-
cially (for strangers have a liberty), have not been permitted
ci\il cohabitation in this world with them, but have been
distressed and persecuted by them." Again : " The great-
est yokes yet lying on English necks are of a spiritual and
soul nature." " This tenet of the magistrates' keeping the
church from apostatizing, by practicing civil force upon
the consciences of men, is so far from preserving religion
pure that it is a mighty bulwark or barricade to keep out
all true religion ; yea, and all godly magistrates for [from ?]
ever coming into the world." Here is a fine bit of sar-
casm : " Are the armories of the true King Solomon, Christ
Chap, i.] ROGER WILLIAMS. 73
Jesus, disarmed? Are there no spiritual swords girt upon
the thighs of those valiant ones that should guard his heav-
enly bed, except the sword of steel to be run for from the
cutler's shop? Is the religion of Jesus Christ so poor and
so weak and so feeble grown, so cowardly and base, that
neither the soldiers nor commanders in Christ's army have
any courage or skill to withstand sufficiently in all points
a false teacher, a false prophet, a spiritual cheater or de-
ceiver?" " If the elders and churches and ordinances of
Christ have such need of the civil sword for their main-
tenance and protection (I mean in spiritual things), sure
the Lord Jesus cannot be excused for not being careful
either to express this great ordinance in his will and testa-
ment, or else to have furnished the ci\il state and officers
thereof with ability and hearts for this their great duty
and employment, to which he hath called them."
As a founder of a State no less than as an advocate of
a great principle Roger Williams deserves the gratitude
and respect of all lovers of religious and civil liberty ; and
it is the glory of the Baptists that the first State ever
founded on the principle of absolute liberty of conscience
was founded by a man who then and throughout his subse-
quent life was one of the staunchest advocates of funda-
mental Baptist principles, and who, shortly after he had
effected an organization of the body politic, was the first
to introduce believers' baptism and to organize a church
of baptized believers. Professor Masson describes the
civic part of WilHams's life-work as " the organization of
a community on the unheard-of principle of absolute re-
ligious liberty combined with perfect civil democracy."
Having personally secured from the natives for a trifling
consideration the land that was needed, he admitted to
equal rights with himself twelve " loving friends and
74 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
neighbors," most of whom were, Hke himself, fugitives
from Massachusetts for conscience' sake, " and such others
as the major part of us shall admit into the same fellow-
ship of vote with us." These promised to submit in
active or passive obedience to all such orders or agree-
ments as should " be made for public good of the body-
in an orderly way, by the major consent of the . . . in-
habitants, . . . only in civil tldiigsy In a later document
Williams writes : " Having made covenant of peaceable
neighborhood with all the sachems and natives round
about us, and having, in a sense of God's merciful provi-
dence unto me in my distress, called the place Providence,
I desired it might be for a shelter for persons distressed
for conscience ; I then, considering the condition of divers
of my distressed countrymen, communicated my said
purchase to my loving friends." This first organization
took place in 1638. In securing the land from the Indians
Williams had the valuable assistance of Sir Henry Vane,
who also served him very efficiently a few years later in
securing a charter.
In 1640 another agreement was signed by thirty-nine
freemen. Among the articles was the following : " We
agree, as formerly hath been the liberties of this town, so
still to hold forth liberty of conscience."
In 1643 the Rhode Island and the Providence people re-
quested Roger Williams to proceed to England for a char-
ter. The Civil War was raging when he reached England,
and the Presbyterian party was in power. Through the
good offices of Sir Henry Vane he obtained a charter for
"The Incorporation of Providence Plantations, in the
Narragansett Bay, in New England." This charter gave
full power to the inhabitants " to rule themselves, and such
others as shall hereafter inhabit within any part of the said
tract of land, b)^ such form of civil government as by vol-
Chap, i.] ROGER WILLIAMS. 75
untaiy consent of all or the greater part of them they shall
find most suitable to their estate and condition." Williams
had been obliged to sail from New York in going for the
charter; but in England he received such recognition as
enabled him to return by way of Boston. In 1647 Pro\i-
dence and the three Rhode Island towns, Newport, Ports-
mouth, and Warwick, united under the charter, and a code
of laws, democratic in spirit and providing for liberty of
conscience, was adopted. A fuller account of these trans-
actions will be given in a subsequent chapter.
Difficulties arose again about 165 i, owing to the usurpa-
tion of William Coddington, supported by the Massachu-
setts authorities. Accompanied by John Clarke, pastor
of the Newport Baptist church and one of the most in-
fluential men in the colony, Williams again proceeded to
England in the interests of his fellow-citizens. Cromwell
was now at the head of the government, and their mission
proved entirely successful. After the restoration of the
Stuarts it was thought best to secure a royal charter and
thus to put the colony on a footing of complete equality
with Massachusetts. It must be admitted that in becom-
ing a party to the securing of a royal charter Roger Wil-
liams virtually receded from the radical position respecting
charters for which he contended so pertinaciously when
in Massachusetts, and which constituted one of the chief
causes of his banishment. The staunchest admirers of
Williams would hardly seek to justify his earlier position
with respect to charters, oaths, rigorous separation from
the unregenerate in prayer and other religious exercises,
etc. He continued to attach chief importance to the titles
to the lands of the colony that he had secured from the
native chiefs, but he did not disdain to secure the further
advantages which recognition by the English government
would give. In fact such recognition proved to be neces-
76 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
sary for preserving the colony from anarchy and from
subjugation by the stronger colonies.
Apologists for the New England theocracy have at-
tempted to show that even in Roger Williams's colony the
rights of conscience were not strictly guarded, and that
j:)enalties were inflicted for substantially the same classes
of offenses as those for which Williams was banished.
Among the cases adduced is that of Samuel Gorton, an
antinomian and anarchist, and withal one of the most vio-
lent agitators and licentious defamers of the time. That
Williams should have used his influence in favor of with-
holding from such a man the rights of citizenship is thought
to be a virtual justification of his own banishment for
agitating against the charter and the freeman's oath and
for his revolutionary procedures at Salem. This occurred
in 1640. Still earlier (i63<S), Verins, a "boisterous and
desperate " young man, was disfranchised at Pro\idence
f<jr maltreating his wife and refusing to allow her to attend
church services, thus interfering with her liberty of con-
science. Williams's severe polemics against the Quakers,
and his denunciation of the book of one William Harris as
teaching high treason, are also cited as instances of incon-
sistency with his Massachusetts record, and as completely
destroying his right to complain of the treatment he re-
ceived in Massachusetts. A careful examination of the
cases cited will show, it is believed, that the distinction
between civil and religious offenses was e\'er carefully
guarded by Roger Williams. At the same time it must
be admitted that, when the responsibility rested upon him
of dealing practically with disturbers of the peace who
sought to make their religious convictions a pretext for
ignoring civil regulations thought to be essential to the
well-being of the community, he felt the necessity of
guarding against unwarranted and licentious applications
CuAV. I.] ROGER WILLIAMS. J J
of the doctrine of liberty of conscience. It is onl}- fair
that side by side with his statement of this great principle
we should place his own caveat against unwarranted ap-
plications thereof :
" That ever I should speak or write a tittle that tends
to such an infinite liberty of conscience [as that it is blood-
guiltiness, and contrary to the rule of the gospel, to exe-
cute judgment upon transgressors against the public or
private weal] is a mistake, and which I have ever dis-
claimed and abhorred. To pre\'ent such mistakes I at
present shall only propose this case : There goes many a
ship to sea, with many hundred souls in one ship, whose
weal and woe is common ; and is a true picture of a com-
monwealth, or an human combination, or society. It hath
fallen out sometimes that both Papists and Protestants,
Jews and Turks, may be embarked into one ship. Upon
which supposal I affirm that all the liberty of conscience
that ever I pleaded for turns upon these two hinges : that
none of the Papists, Protestants, Jews, or Turks be forced
to come to the ship's prayers or worship ; nor compelled
from their own particular prayers or worship, if they
practice any. I further add that I never denied that not-
withstanding this liberty the commander of this ship ought
to command the ship's course ; yea, and also command
that justice, peace, and sobriety be kept and practiced,
both among the seamen and all the passengers. If any of
the seamen refuse to perform their service, or passengers
to pay their freight ; if any refuse to help in person or
purse toward the common charges or defense ; if any re-
fuse to obey the common laws and orders of the ship,
concerning their common peace or preservation ; if any
shall mutiny and rise up against their commanders and
ofificers ; if any should preach or write that there ought to
be no commanders nor officers because all are equal in
78 THE BAPTISTS. [ri-.K. i.
Christ, therefore no masters nor officers, no laws nor or-
ders, no corrections nor punishments — I say: I never
denied but in such cases, whatever is pretended, the com-
mander or commanders may judge, resist, compel, and
punisli such transgressors, according to their deserts and
merits."
This statement as to the limitation of the application of
the doctrine of liberty of conscience was made after many
years of trying experience as governor and chief citizen in
a new colony, which by reason of the liberal basis on which
it was constituted became the resort of some of the most
desperate agitators against all civil and religious order,
the triumph of whose principles would have completely
subverted the basis on which the community was founded.
At the same time this view of the matter forbids that we
should censure too severely the Massachusetts authorities
for seeking to preserve the ecclesiastical and civil order to
establish which they had left luigland, and which they
supposeci would be jeopardized by the toleration of such
teachings as those of Williams before his banishment, or
those of the Baptists and Quakers, which they thor-
oughly misunderstood, and which they honestly supposed
to be fraught with the greatest dangers to the common-
weal. While we must accord all honor to Roger W'illiams
for advocating liberty of conscience in all its length and
breadth at a time when he was almost alone among men
of his class and condition in grasping this fundamental
gospel principle, we must beware of looking with con-
tempt on men like Cotton and Mather and Hooker and
Winthrop for following Luther and Melanchthon and Cal-
vin and Knox, of the Reformation time, and the great con-
temporary theologians of Europe, in regarding the doctrine
of liberty of conscience as utterly impracticable and as sure
to result in civil and religious anarchv.
CHAPTER II.
ROGER WILLIAMS AND THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
IN AMERICA.
It remains to consider Roger Williams's relation to the
Baptists. The great principle of absolute liberty of con-
science, which Baptists had been almost alone in advocat-
ing since the early years of the Protestant Revolution, he
adopted, wrought out in all its consequences, and embodied
in the constitution of the colony which he founded. The
principle of separatism from the corrupt state churches
seemed to him logically to involve the Baptist position.
He firmly believed that the prelatical Church of England
was an apostate church, and that true believers should
have no fellowship whatever with such a church. He repu-
diated with the utmost decision ordinances administered
by an apostate church, as well as its worship and teachings.
He insisted with vehemence on regenerate church- mem-
bership. His repudiation of Church of England ordinances
involved, from his point of view, the repudiation of the
baptism that he and others had received in this commun-
ion. His insistence on regenerate membership involved
the rejection of infant baptism. Having become convinced
that these consequences were involved in his position, he
was too faithful to his convictions not to go where logic
led. Accordingly, about March, 1639, two years after his
banishment, he repudiated the baptism he had received in
infancy, and was immersed by Ezekiel Holliman, who be-
79
8o THE BAPriSTS. [Per. i.
fore he left IVIassachusetts had shown a strong inchnation
toward Baptist principles. Williams then proceeded to
baptize Holliman and eleven others. Thus was founded
the first Baptist church in the New World. It may be of
interest to note that the organization of this first Baptist
church in America was only about five years later than
that of the first Particular Baptist church in England under
the leadership of John Spilsbury, and that the introduction
of immersion by Williams was three years in ad\-ance of
its introduction among the Baptists of England.^
Precisely what personal influence was brought to bear
upon Roger Williams to lead him to take this step is un-
certain. Winthrop attributes his antipedobaptist views to
the influence of Mrs. Scott, a sister of Mrs. Anne Hutchin-
son, the famous antinomian agitator. It can scarcely be
doubted that he was already familiar with Baptist princi-
ples as held by P^nglish Baptists, and his familiarity with
the Dutch language would make it unreasonable to sup-
pose that he was wholly ignorant of the Mennonites and
their principles.
It is, of course, a matter of regret to Baptists that Roger
Williams was not able to rest in what he had done in the
direction of restoring the ordinances whose valid admin-
istration had, in his opinion, been lost through apostasy.
Like John Smyth, the founder of the English General
Baptists, he soon began to doubt the warrantableness of
thus introducing anew believers' baptism. He had no
question whatever as to the proper subjects or the act of
baptism. The only question that concerned him was that
of the \'alidity of administration. If the church had ne\'er
apostatized believers' baptism would have been continued
1 Contemporary testimony is unanimous in favor of the view that immer-
sion was practiced by Williams. As this fact is generally conceded, it does
not seem worth while to quote the evidence.
Chap, ii.] WILLIAMS AXD THE PROVIDENCE BAPTISTS. 8 I
and would have been obligatory. But the ordinance
having been lost, he doubted whether it could be restored
apart from a special (miraculous) divine authorization. He
seems to have hoped that such might hereafter be vouch-
safed. Until then he could only occupy the position of a
seeker.
His relations with the Baptists continued to be friendly,
and several years afterward (1649), when a flourishing
Baptist church existed at Newport under the leadership of
John Clarke, and the Providence church w^as still carrj-ing
forward its work, he wrote to his friend John Winthrop,
Jr. : "At Seekonk a great many have lately concurred
with Mr. John Clarke and our Providence men about the
point of a new baptism, and the manner by dipping ; and
Mr. John Clarke hath been there lately (and Mr. Lucar)
and hath dipped them. I believe their practice comes
nearer the first practice of our great p-ounder Christ Jesus
than other practices of religion do, and yet I have not
satisfaction neither in the authority by which it is done,
nor in the manner ; nor in the prophecies concerning the
rising of Christ's kingdom after the desolations by Rome,
etc." As regards the manner of the baptism, it is prob-
able that he thought strict adherence to primitive practice
required trine immersion, or the kneeling of the candidate
and immersion by pressing the head forward. As regards
the interpretation of prophecy, it appears that he was
doubtful whether we have sufficient reason to expect
a complete rehabilitation of the Christian church in
the present dispensation. From his correspondence dur-
ing this period it appears that he regarded it as prob-
able that Rome would powerfully reassert herself in the
immediate future, persecuting and destroying, and that
afterward a new dispensation, perhaps accompanied by
the second advent of the Messiah, would be ushered in.
82 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
From his vigorous, almost atrocious, polemics against the
Quakers, it is evident that he had no sympathy what-
ever with their grounds for the disuse of the ordinances.
Equally decided was his antagonism to the mystical (semi-
pantheistic) antinomianism of the time. In his old age
(1676), in his writing against the Quakers, referring evi-
dently to the Baptists, who by this time had greatly in-
creased in numbers and influence both in England and in
America, he remarks : " After all my search and examina-
tions and considerations ... I do profess to believe that
some come nearer to the first primitive churches and the
institutions and appointments of Christ Jesus than others ;
as in many respects, so in that gallant and heavenly and
fundamental principle of the true matter of a Christian
congregation, flock, or society — viz., actual believers, true
disciples and converts, living stones, such as can give some
account how the grace of God hath appeared unto them
and wrought that heavenly change in them. If my soul
could find rest in joining unto any of the churches pro-
fessing Christ Jesus now extant, I would readily and
gladly do it." This is substantially in accord with the
following earlier declaration (1643): "The two first prin-
ciples and foundations of true religion, or worship of the
true God in Christ, are repentance from dead works and
faith toward God, before the doctrines of baptism or wash-
ing and the laying on of hands, which continue the ordi-
nances and practices of worship ; the want of which I
conceive is the bane of millions of souls in England, and
all other nations professing to be Christian nations, who
are brought by public authority to baptism and fellowship
with God in ordinances of worship, before the saving work
of repentance and a true turning to God." We may be
sure that if he had seen his way to the founding of a
denomination more apostolic than the Baptist, and with
Chap, ii.] WILLIAMS AXD THE PROITDEXCE BAPTISTS. 83
ordinances administered more authoritatively, he would
not have contented himself with the one experiment, but
would have gone forward to embody in practice any new
light attained ; that he would have sought either to con-
vince his Baptist brethren that something was lacking to
the completeness of their apostolic standing, or to win
others to his supposedly more apostolic and authoritative
position. The fact is that he remained a Baptist in every-
thing except in his demand for direct divine sanction for
the restoration of the ordinances long since hopelessly lost.
Had Roger Williams been acquainted with the results of
the latest researches in medieval history he would prob-
ably not have been so absolutely sure that the ordinances
had been lost, e\en on the supposition that apostolic suc-
cession is a condition of their valid continuance. But he
was manifestly in error in making the validity of Christian
ordinances to depend upon any ceremonial or personal
qualification of the administrator — the error of the Dona-
tists in the early centuries, and of high-churchmen. Epis-
copal and Baptist, in modern times. As in the case of
many great and good men before and since Roger Wil-
liams's time, his church life was wrecked and his Christian
usefulness greatly impaired by his efforts to interpret the
prophetical and apocalyptic Scriptures with reference to
the events and movements of his own time — a procedure
fraught with danger, invariably resulting in error, and
oftentimes ending in disaster.
The history of the First Baptist Church of Providence
after the withdrawal of Roger Williams is for some years
involved in considerable obscurity. The original records
have been lost, and some have sought to make it appear
that for a time it ceased entirely to exist, and that the
surviving organization is independent of the first. The
chief interest involved in this contention has been a desire
84 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
to give precedence to the First Baptist Church of Newport,
founded in 1644 or earher.
According to Governor Winthrop's account, Williams
was led to introduce believers' baptism and to organize a
church on this basis by Mrs. Scott, a sister of Mrs. Hutch-
inson and the wife of Richard Scott, who, after walking in
the Baptist way for some time along with Williams, and
probably after the withdrawal of the latter, cast in his lot
with the Quakers. It is not possible to be sure of the
names of the entire number of those baptized by Williams.
In July, 1639, the Salem church, under Hugh Peters, passed
the " great censure " on Roger Williams and his wife, John
Throckmorton and his wife, Thomas Olney and his wife,
Stukely Westcot and his wife, Mary HoUiman, and Widow
Reeves. " These wholly refused to hear the church, deny-
ing it and all the churches of the Bay to be true churches,
and (except two) are all rebaptized." (Felt, i., 379, 380.)
Throckmorton, Westcot, and Olney were among those
whom Williams admitted to an equal footing with himself
in relation to the lands he had secured from his Indian
friends, and who joined with him in organizing the com-
munity. W^hich of the Salem excommunicates were not
" rebaptized " we are not in a position to determine. Be-
sides Throckmorton, Olney, Westcot, Holliman, and their
wives, and Williams's wife, there must have been two other
constituent members. These may have been Richard Scott
and his wife, mentioned above. Scott was not of the orig-
inal company, but appears among those who were admitted
by the vote of the company on the payment of thirty shil-
lings each, along with Chad Brown and William Wicken-
den, who were later to become the pastors of the Baptist
church. These last, along with a considerable number of
others admitted shortly after the organization of the com-
munity, seem to have been new arrivals from England,
Chap, ii.] ARMINIAXISM AND LAYING ON OF HANDS. 85
as their names do not appear on the roll of Massachusetts
freemen. It is highly probable that several of these, as
well as some of the later arrivals, had been members of
Baptist churches in England, and that some or most of
this latter class were General (Arminian) Baptists. The
early intrusion of Arminian elements was probably one
cause of the discord that came perilously near wrecking
this first Baptist church in America.
It is probable that after Williams's withdrawal Thomas
Olney, one of the constituent members of the church,
succeeded to the leadership. The body had no regular
meeting-place, but assembled out of doors in fax'orable
weather and in private houses at other times. It is not
likely that the work of evangelization was carried forward
with much vigor, or that the leadership of the church was
energetic. William Wickenden, Gregory Dexter, and Chad
Brown seem to have united with the church soon after its
organization, and to have held to Arminian views. Along
with Arminianism they laid much stress on the ceremonial
imposition of hands after baptism as an indispensable qual-
ification for church-fellowship. During the early history
of the Providence church it appears that plurality of
eldership prevailed. It is probable that Olney, Brown,
Wickenden, and Dexter were coordinate elders at the
time of the schism in 1-652. Following the lead of the
early English Baptist churches, this church laid little stress
on ordination to the ministry as a qualification for the ad-
ministration of the ordinances, and gave the fullest scope
to the exercise of " lay " gifts. It is doubtful whether any
of these elders would have approved of the use of the title
" Rev." in connection with their names. The complete
informality of the organization and the services of this
church, and the heterogeneity of the elements of which it
was composed, as well as the influence of antinomians who
86 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
abounded in the community, would make a greater or less
degree of discord a thing to be expected. It is probable
that differences of opinion as to the extent of Christ's re-
demptive work were at the basis of the first agitations in
the church. Roger Williams was a thoroughgoing Calvin-
ist, and most of the original members of the church were
probably at one with him in holding to particular redemp-
tion and related doctrines. Brown, Wickenden, and Dex-
ter seem to have early declared themselves in favor of
general redemption and related doctrines. Apart from
the fact that Calvinism was the system of the persecuting
Puritans of England and America, a Socinianized Armin-
ianism represented by the English General Baptists was at
this time making rapid headway in England and America,
and this type of doctrine soon met with wide acceptance
among the Providence and Newport Baptists.
From a remark in one of Williams's letters, it would
seem that some members of the community had adopted
radical views, involving universalism, such as the denial of
the reality of hell, etc. But the chief matter of controversy
was the doctrine of the imposition of hands. Roger Wil-
liams himself laid considerable stress upon this rite, and
placed it alongside of baptism and the Supper, as follow-
ing the former and a condition of properly receiving the
latter. The matter was agitated among the General Bap-
tists of England from 1646 onward, and many churches
made the passing under hands a term of communion. In-
sistence on the imposition of hands was based on apostolic
practice (as in Acts viii. 12, 19, and xix. 6, 7), and espe-
cially on Hebrews vi. i, 2. "As God hath promised to
give his Holy Spirit," wrote Thomas Grantham, one of the
ablest leaders of the English General Baptists (" Christ.
Primitiv.," bk. ii., pt. ii., chap, iii., p. 31), "to all that are
Chilled of the Lord, so he hath appointed a solemn way
Chap, ii.] THOMAS OLNEY. 87
wherein his servants and handmaids are to wait upon him
for the reception thereof ; which way is, the prayers of his
church, performed by her ministers or pastors, with the
laying on of hands ; and this as a principle of Christ's doc-
trine, belonging to them in the minority of their Christian
state." In England as in America the laying on of hands
was the occasion of much bitter controversy, those who
advocated it regarding it not merely as an appropriate
symbol of the receiving of the Holy Spirit, which might
be employed or dispensed with, but as a " foundation-
principle " which could by no means properly be set aside.
Finding it enumerated in Hebrews \i. i, 2, among "the
first principles of Christ," along with " repentance from
dead works," "faith toward God," "the teaching of bap-
tisms," " the resurrection of the dead," and " eternal judg-
ment," they insisted upon its observance along with the
acceptance of the other five principles. Thus arose what
were called " Six Principle Baptists."
The controversy among the Providence Baptists had be-
come so acute by 1652 that fellowship between those who
considered the laying on of hands essential and those who
either regarded it as a matter of indifference or rejected
its use entirely was no longer possible. A division now
took place, those who were for the recognition of only five
principles following the leadership of Thomas Olney, while
those who insisted on six principles gathered themselves
around Brown, Wickenden, and Dexter. As there was
nothing whatever in the way of a church building, nor
anything the possession of which would identify the party
possessing it with the original church to the exclusion of
a like claim on the part of the opposite party, it seems
futile to base an argument for the priority of another
church on the supposition that one of these parties rather
than the other was the original church, and that this orig-
88 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
inal church afterward became extinct. It has been a.s-
sumed by some that Ohiey and his followers constituted
the original church founded by Roger Williams, and that
the party led by Brown and others constituted a new
church, of which the present First Baptist Church of Provi-
dence is the continuation. The " original church," led by
Olney, died. Therefore the First Baptist Church of New-
port, organized in 1644, is the oldest Baptist church in
America : Q. E. D. ! The fact is that the party led by
Chad Browai and others probably constituted a majority
and most of the intelligence of the church, and so far as
there was innovation in relation to the laying on of hands
it was not in the practice of the ceremony, which seems
to have prevailed from the beginning, but in making it a
term of communion, which to men like Olney seemed to
be going beyond the warrant of Scripture. Some of the
constituent members of the church may have been Armin-
ian in sentiment; by the time of the division the Armin-
ians were probably in the majority.
The historical notices of the Providence l^aptist leaders
of this time are meager and unsatisfactory. Of Thomas
Olney little more is known than that he was one of the
constituent members of the Providence church ; that he
was among those expelled from the Salem church ; that
he had previously received from the Massachusetts author-
ities a " license to depart," which was in effect a decree of
banishment (Felt, i., 334); that he was one of the leaders
of the church after Williams's withdrawal ; that he opposed
the requirement of laying on of hands as unwarranted by
Scripture ; that he was a member of the committee ap-
pointed in 1647 to form a colonial government; that he
was one of the "assistants" under the charter of 1663.
(" Pub. Nar. Club," vi., 283). He continued to minister
to his congregation till his death in 1682. (Backus, i.,
Chap, ii.] WILLIAM WICKEKDEN. 89
405 scq}) Olney's branch of the original church ceased
to exist about i 720.
WiUiam Wickenden was probably the most active of
the Six Principle leaders at the time of the division. He
would seem to have been a man of good education, at-
tractive manners, and considerable force of character. He
came to Providence from Salem, where he had probably
but recently arriA-ed from England, before August, 1637
(" Pub. Nar. Club," vi., 329), and was among those who
received the privileges of the community on the payment
of thirty shillings. According to a writer in " Rippon's An-
nual Register" (1801-02, p. 797), he came to Providence
in 1639. This date is followed by Farmer, Benedict, and
Felt. According to Staples (Felt, i., 506), he became
joint pastor, with Chad Brown, of the Providence Baptist
church in 1642. We find him (1647), i'"" view of the dis-
turbed state of the community, joining with Roger Wil-
liams and six others in setting forth a document in the
interests of peace and unit3\ They promise one another:
" First, that the foundati(Mi in lo\'e may appear among us,
what causes of difference have heretofore been given either
by word or misbehavior, in public or private, concerning
particular or general affairs, by any of us here present,
not to mention or repeat them in the assembly, but that
love shall cover the multitude of them in the grave of
oblivion. Secondly, that union may proceed from love,
we do promise to keep constant unto those several en-
gagements made by us, both unto our town and colony,
and to the uttermost of our powers and abilities to main-
tain our lawful rights and privileges, and to uphold the
government of this plantation. Also, that lo\-e may ap-
pear in union, we desire to abandon all causeless fears
and jealousies of one another, self-seeking and striving one
against another, only aiming at the general peace and
go TFIE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
union of this town and colony. Lastly, for our more
orderly proceeding in this assembly, whereby love and
union may appear in order, if in our consultations differ-
ences in judgment shall arise, then moderately in order,
through argumentation, to agitate the same; considering
the cause how far it may be hurtful, or conducing unto
our union, peace, and liberty, and accordingly act, not
after the will or person of any, but unto the justice and
righteousness of the cause. Again, if such cause shall be
presented wherein such difficulties shall appear that evi-
dent argument caimot be given for present satisfaction,
but that either town or colony or both shall suffer, then to
take into consideration a speech of a beloved friend : ' Bet-
ter to suffer an inconvenience than a mischief ' — better to
suspend with a loss which may be inconvenient than to be
totally disunited and bereaved of all rights and liberties,
which will be a mischief indeed." (Backus, i., 167 scq.)
It would seem that Wickenden was a member of the as-
sembly ; that serious dilTerences of opinion existed among
the signers of the covenant ; that Wickenden was a man
of more than ordinary influence in colonial affairs; and
that he along with the other signers was willing in a truly
Christian spirit to sink individual differences of opinion in
the interests of the communit)'. From a letter of Roger
Williams to John Whipple, dated August 24, 1669 (" R. I.
Hist. Tr.," xiv., 1881), it appears that for a time at
least Wickenden's Arminianism assumed a somewhat So-
cinian hue: "I am sorry that you venture to play with
the fire, and W. Wickenden is toasting himself in it, and
my want of tongs to rake him out without burning my
fingers, etc. You know who it is that counts you and us
as fools for believing the Scriptures — namely, that there
shall be any hell at all, or punishment for sin after this life.
But I am content to be a fool with Jesus Christ, who tells
Chap, ii.] GREGORY DEXTER. 9I
us of an account for every idle word in the day of judg-
ment." We need not suppose that the whole of this dam-
aging remark refers to Wickenden ; but he was evidently
entertaining views on important questions that Williams
considered in the highest degree dangerous. A writer in
" Rippon's Annual Register" (1802, p. 797) states that
" he died February 2^, 1670 " (N. S.), after having remo\-ed
to a place called Solitary Hill. Wickenden extended his
labors to New York, where, in 1656, he was imprisoned for
baptizing and administering the Lord's Supper at Flush-
ing. After the division of the Providence church, in 1652,
William Vaughan, a member of the Newport church, who
had adopted the Six Principle position, went to Provi-
dence to receive the imposition of hands, and returned
accompanied by Wickenden and Gregory Dexter. The
aim of the three was probably to organize a Six Principle
church at Newport. They were not immediately suc-
cessful.
Gregory Dexter was for many years one of the most
influential men in the colony. Beyond any of the Baptist
citizens of Providence, perhaps, he was a man of afifairs,
and was much employed in the public service. It is not
certain when he arrived at Providence. He is said to
have received one of the " home lots," which would seem
to establish his early presence. His name appears among
the signers of the first compact of 1640, but may have
been added at a later date. He was a printer and stationer
of reputation in London, and had probably become noted
as a zealous separatist. His flight from England is said
to have been occasioned by the publication of a writing
obnoxious to the government. Roger Williams's " Key
to the Lidian Language," published in London in 1643,
bears his imprint. Benedict supposes that he did not
reach Providence until 1644, which would be the natural
92 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
inference from the last-named fact, apart from decisive
evidence of his eadier presence. He was one of the first
experienced printers to come to America, and spent some
time in Boston each year assisting in the pubHcation of an
ahnanac, notwithstanding the fact that he was a zealous
Baptist and that Baptists were under the ban in Massa-
chusetts. After the securing of the first charter he was a
member of the committee from Providence to form a gov-
ernment. For years he was town clerk, and from time to
time occupied the positions of commissioner for the town
and deputy in the assembly. He was president of the
colony in 1653. (Backus, ii., 491.) In 1654 he was ap-
pointed by the town to draw up, in association with Roger
Williams, an address to Sir Henry Vane on the occasion
of his retirement "from the helm of public affairs." The
document was probably drafted by Williams, but it was
signed by Dexter alone on behalf of the town. (" Pub.
Nar. CI.," vi., 266 scq.) During Williams's absence in
P2ngland on colonial business, in 1652-53, he carried on a
friendly correspondence with Dexter. A very affectionate
and most interesting letter from Williams has been pre-
served. ("Pub. Nar. CI.," vi., 235 scq.) Referring to
Dexter's well-known proficiency in the printer's craft, he
writes : " It hath pleased God so to engage me in divers
.skirmishes against the priests, both of Old and New Eng-
land, so that I have occasioned using the help of printer-
men, unknown to me, to long for my old friend." " Many
friends have frequently, with much love, inquired after
you." Williams commends his "poor companion" and
their " many children," from whom he was obliged for so
long a time to be absent, to Dexter's " love and faithful
care." " Abundance of love remembered from abundance
of friends to your dear self and your dearest." In 1669
Wilhams felt called upon to rebuke Dexter for his refusal
Chap, ii.] GREGORY DEXTER. 93
to pay certain taxes on the plea of conscientious scruples.
Referring to this matter in a letter to John Whipple he
writes : " The last night Shadrach Manton told me that I
had spoken bad words of Gregory Dexter — . . . viz., that
I said he makes a fool of his conscience. I told him I
said so, and, I think, to our neighbor Dexter himself; for I
believe he might as well be moderator or general deputy
or general assistant as go so far as he does in many par-
ticulars ; but what if I or my conscience be a fool, yet it
is commendable and admirable in him, that, being a man
of education and of a noble calling, and versed in milita-
ries, that his conscience forced him to be such a child in
his own house, when W. Har. strained for the rate (which
I approve of) with such imperious insulting over his con-
science, which all conscientious men \\\\\ abhor to hear of.
However, I commend that man, whether Jew or Turk or
Papist or whoever, that steers no otherwise than his con-
science dares, till his conscience tells him that God gives
him a greater latitude. For, neighbor, you shall find it
rare to meet with men of conscience, men that for fear
and love of God dare not lie, nor be drunk, nor be con-
tentious, nor steal, nor be covetous, nor voluptuous, nor
ambitious, nor lazybodies, nor busybodies, nor dare dis-
please God by omitting either service or suffering, though
of reproach, imprisonment, banishment, and death, because
of the fear and love of God." ("Pub. Nar. CI.," vi.,
328 scq.) A few weeks later, in a letter to Governor
Winthrop : "Sir, I have encouraged Mr. Dexter to send
you a limestone, and to salute you with this inclosed. He
is an intelligent man, a master printer of London, and
conscionable (though a Baptist), therefore maligned and
traduced by William Harris (a doleful generalist). Sir, if
there be any occasion of yourself (or others) to use any of
this stone, Mr. Dexter hath a lusty team and lusty sons,
94 THE BAPTISTS. [riR. i.
and very willing heart (beiny; a sanguine, cheerful man), to
do yourself or any (at your word especially) service upon
my \sic ; probably written vcr}'\ honest and cheap consid-
erations." {Ibid., 332.) According to the writer of the
article in " Rippon's Annual Register" (as above): "He
was never observed to laugh, and seldom to smile. So
earnest was he in the ministry that he could hardly for-
bear preaching when he came into a house or met a num-
ber of persons in the street. His sentiments were those
of the Particular Baptists. He died in the ninety-first
year of his age." The date of his death is given by Sav-
age (" Genealogical Dictionary ") as 1700. The statement
that his sentiments were those of the Particular Baptists is
questionable. It is certain that Wickenden, with whom
he labored harmoniously, held to Arminian views ; and
insistence on the imposition of hands, in which Dexter
joined, was characteristic of the General Baptists. Still it
is not impossible that he differed, in a quiet way, from the
majority of his Six Principle brethren as regards the uni-
versality of redemption and related doctrines, and on these
points was in agreement with his lifelong friend, Roger
Williams.
Chad Brown was probably of more importance to the
Baptist cause in Providence than either of the leaders pre-
viously noticed. The fact that he was the ancestor of the
four Brown brothers who in the eighteenth century con-
tributed so largely of their time and their means to the
advancement of the Baptist cause in Providence, and who
gave their substance and their name to what was formerly
Rhode Island College, has tended to keep his memory
fragrant. He was one of the early settlers of Providence,
being the first of those admitted to participation in the
property and rights of the community after the original
thirteen. Like most of the Providence men, he had left
Chap, ii.] CHAD BROIVN. 95
Massachusetts for conscience' sake. Probably as early as
1642 he was among the leaders in the Baptist church, and
was associated with Wickenden and Dexter in contending
for the imposition of hands. He was among the four citi-
zens chosen in 1640 to form a government. He had
much to do with determining the bounds of the lands of
the colony, and his efforts in this direction were regarded
as highly beneficent. Roger Williams wrote of him in
1669 as " that noble spirit, now with God, Chad Brown."
According to Dr. R. A. Guild, the highest living authority
on Providence history, " his death was regarded by the
colonists as a public calamity, for he had been the suc-
cessful arbitrator of many differences, and had won the
not unenviable reputation of being a peacemaker." He
died about 1665.
Little that is memorable has been recorded with respect
to the further history of the Providence church until the
time of James Manning (1770 onward). Under Pastor
Tillinghast, and largely at his own expense, the first meet-
ing-house was erected in i 700. The most noted pastor of
the period was probably Ebenezer Jenckes, whose brother
was governor of the colony. He was born in Paw-
tucket in 1669 and ordained in 17 19, and is said to have
been the first American minister who preached in Provi-
dence. (Benedict, 453.) Governor Jenckes was himself
a member of this church. He was for a number of years
colonial ambassador to England. A son of the governor,
Daniel Jenckes, was for forty-eight years an active mem-
ber of the church and for forty years a member of the
assembly, was chief-justice of the county, and was a lib-
eral contributor to church and college. Among the other
pastors of the period were Thomas Olney, Jr., and James
Brown, grandson to Chad Brown.
CHAPTER III.
JOHN CLARKE AND THE BAPTISTS OF NEWPORT.^
Though second to the Providence church in point of
date, the Newport church deserves the first place as re-
gards the consistent and persistent devotion of its leaders
to Baptist principles, the thoroughness and vigor of its
organization, and its evangelistic zeal. The exact date ol
its organization cannot be determined. The latest admis-
sible date is 1644, but there is some probability in favor
of an earlier date. The founder and for many years the
pastor of this church was John Clarke, who deserves a
high place on the roll of Baptist worthies. Born in Eng-
land (probably in Suffolk, possibly in Bedfordshire), Octo-
ber 8, 1609, highly educated in arts and in medicine (we
know not where or how), a pronounced separatist before
he left England (whether a pedobaptist or an antipedo-
baptist we are not informed), he arrived at Boston, Novem-
ber, 1637, hoping to find among those who had sought in
the New World immunity from persecution a spirit of
toleration. To quote his own account of his early experi-
ences: " I was no sooner on shore but there appeared to
me to be differences among them touching the Covenants ;
and in point of evidencing a man's good estate, some
pressed hard for the Covenant of works, others pressed as
1 Clarke, " 111 News;" " Rec. of the Col. of R. I.," i. ; Arnold, i. ;
Backus; Winthrop ; Hulibard; Lechford ; Barrows, " Hist. Sketch," " Dev.
of Bapt.'Pr. in R. I.," " Rapt. Qu.," 1872, pp. 483 seq. ; J- C. C. Clarke,
in " Bapt. Qu.," 1876, pp. x'Soscq.; Adlam ; Callender ; Comer.
96
Chai\ 111.] SETTLEMEXT OE RHODE ISLAXD. 97
hard for the Covenant of grace that was estabhshed upon
better promises, and for the evidence of the Spirit, as that
which is a more certain, constant, and satisfactory witness.
I thought it not strange to see men differ about matters of
Heaven, for I expect no less upon Earth : But to see that
they were not able so to bear with each other in their dif-
ferent understandings and consciences as in those utmost
parts of the World to live peaceably together, whereupon
I moved the latter, forasmuch as the land was before us
and wide enough, with the proffer of Abraham to Lot, and
for peace' sake, to turn aside to the right hand or to the
left. The motion was readily accepted, and I was requested
with some others to seek out a place." The controversy
referred to was that over the so-called antinomian teach-
ings of Mrs. Anne Hutchinson. In assuming the leader-
ship of a new colony, the majority of whose members were
in sympathy with Mrs. Hutchinson's views, and in which
the Hutchinson family was embraced, Clajke in no way
committed himself to the errors of the antinomians. He
agreed with them in insisting on liberty of conscience ; he
beheved that they ought to seek a place where they could
hold their views in freedom ; he was himself conscious of
such a degree of incompatibility with the doctrines and
the spirit of the Massachusetts theocracy that he could not
hope peaceably to abide in the colony ; and for the purpose
of founding a new colony in which liberty of conscience
should prevail he was willing to cast in his lot with these
errorists.
Clarke's narrative continues: "Thereupon, by reason of
the suffocating heat of the summer before, I went to the
North [New Hampshire] to be somewhat cooler, but the
winter following proved so cold that we were forced in the
spring to make toward the South ; so, having sought the
Lord for direction, we all agreed that, while our vessel was
g8 • THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
passing about a large and dangerous cape, we would cross
over by land, having Long Island and Delaware Bay in
our eye for the place of our residence ; so to a town called
Providence we came, which was begun by one M. Roger
Williams (who for matter of conscience had not long be-
fore been exiled from the former jurisdiction), by whom
we were courteously and lovingly received, and with whom
we advised about our design." The result was that, after
other places had been considered, with the approval of
Williams and of the Plymouth magistrates they settled
on the island of Aquidneck, soon afterward named Rhode
Lsland. Through the kindly offices of Williams they were
enabled to secure from the Indians a title to the island.
On the " 7th day of the first month " (March, 1638) the
colony was solemnly organized : " We whose names are
underwritten do here solemnly, in the presence of Jeho-
vah, incorporate ourselves into a body politic, and, as he
shall help, will submit our persons, lives, and estates unto
cur Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of
Lords, and to all those perfect and most absolute laws of
his given us in his holy word of truth, to be guided and
judged thereby." Nineteen names of the male members
of the party follow, the list being headed by those of Wil-
liam Coddington and John Clarke. Coddington, who had
had much experience in governmental matters in Massa-
chusetts, was appointed judge or chief magistrate. He
covenanted " to do justice and judgment impartially ac-
cording to the laws of God, and to maintain the funda-
mental rights and privileges of this body politic."
It should be observed that at the time of the formation
of tliis colony Roger Williams's Providence was still in a
rudimentary state, with a population small in comparison
with that of the Aquidneck colony, and with scarcely the
beginnings of organized political life. The colony under
CiiAi'. III. J PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS. 99
Clarke and Coddington was not only numerically far
stronger than that under Williams, but it embraced far
more of culture and of political experience and wisdom.
Portsmouth was the first part of the island to be settled.
In April, 1639, Coddington, Clarke, and others organized
a new community at Newport. Portsmouth and Newport
were reunited in 1640. In 1643, as already stated, Roger
Williams was sent to England by the Rhode Island and
Providence people conjointly to secure a charter. The
charter was secured, but — partly, it may be, on account of
the designation " Providence Plantations," which may have
seemed to give a certain ascendency to Providence — the
union of the three settlements under the charter did not
take place till 1647.
It is interesting to note the stress that was laid — as seen
in the first act of incorporation and in subsequent legisla-
tion— on the sole headship of Christ and on the principle
of ci\il and religious liberty. While accepting the word
of God as the embodiment of perfect and absolute laws
by which they agreed to be guided and judged, they were
careful to limit punishment for breaches of the laws of God
to such as "tend to civil disturbance." In 1641 it was
" ordered, and unanimously agreed upon, that the govern-
ment which this body politic doth attend unto in this
Island, and the jurisdiction thereof in favor of our prince,
is a DEMOCRACY, or popular government." It was
further ordered " that none be accounted a delinquent for
DOCTRINE provided it be not directly repugnant to the
government or laws established." In September, 1641, it
was ordered " that the law of the last court, made con-
cerning liberty of conscience in point of doctrine, is perpet-
uated." The toleration principles of the Rhode Islanders,
as well as those of the Providence people, were soon put to
a severe test. Samuel Gorton, a man of education and
lOO THE BAPTISTS. [Pek. i.
ability, who represented antinomianism in some of its
worst features, first at Portsmouth and then at Providence
sought to overthrow the estabhshed forms of government
and to arouse the people to revolt. His anarchism was
grounded in his religious views ; and with his thoroughly
perverse but pretentious interpretation of Scripture, and
his intense, magnetic personality, he was able to secure a
considerable following. At Portsmouth he was whipped
and expelled ; while even Roger Williams opposed his
receiving the privileges of citizenship at Providence and
planned to move out of the colony himself should the
favorers of Gorton succeed in securing his admission.
In the incorporation of Portsmouth, Newport, Provi-
dence, and Warwick, as " Providence Plantations, in Nar-
ragansett Bay, in New England," under the charter se-
cured by Williams, Clarke was probably more influential
than Williams himself. The model of government pre-
pared by the islanders, in which Clarke's influence was no
doubt predominant, was accepted substantially by the
Providence representatives. (" Rec. of the Col. of R. I.
and Prov. Plant.," i., 147 scq.) Roger Williams has re-
ceived more credit than is his due for the Code of Laws
adopted by the united colonies in 1647. They were cer-
tainly drawn up in substantially the form in which they
were adopted by the islanders, and external and internal
evidences point to Clarke as the principal author. In the
preamble it is agreed and declared " that the form of
Government established in Providence Plantations is
DEMOCRATICAL; that is to say, a Government held
by tne free and voluntary consent of all or the greater
part of the free inhabitants." The preamble closes:
" And now to the end that we may give, each to other
(notwithstanding our different consciences touching the
truth as it is in Jesus, whereof upon the point we all make
Chap, hi.] CLARKE AND LIBERTY OF COXSCIEXCE. loi
mention), as good and hopefid assurance as we are able,
touching each man's peaceable and quiet enjoyment of
his lawful right and liberty, we do agree unto, and . . .
enact, establish, and confirm, these orders following." The
Code is, naturally, based upon English law, but it is in
every way admirably adapted to the needs of the colo-
nists. It would be impossible to find a document of the
kind in which the rights of individuals and of the com-
munity are more carefully guarded. The document closes
with these noble words, that have been quoted so often as
to have become famous: "These are the Laws that con-
cern all men, and these are the Penalties for the trans-
gression thereof, which by common consent are Ratified
and Established throughout this whole Colony ; and other-
wise than thus \\'hat is herein forbidden all men may walk
as their consciences persuade them, every one in the name
of his God. And let the Saints of the Most High walk in
this Colony without INIolestation in the name of Jehovah,
their God, forever and ever."
Although John Clarke did not write as voluminously on
the doctrine of liberty of conscience as did Roger Williams,
and although Williams was in advance of Clarke in pub-
lishing his views to the w^orld, it is probable that Clarke
had embraced these views some time before he knew of
Williams. When he reached Boston in 1637 liis indigna-
tion at the denial of liberty of conscience by the Massachu-
setts authorities was soon made manifest. That he was
fr<nn this time onward as thoroughly mastered b}^ this
fundamental Baptist principle as was Williams himself is
evident from his logical and comprehensive defense of this
principle in his " 111 News from New I^igland " (1652), as
well as from his consistent adherence to this principle in
his public life and in the legislation that he influenced
from 1638 till his death in 1675. His argument for liberty
I02 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
of conscience in the work referred to is so able and apt
tliat it deserves some further notice. In expounding his
position to the Massachusetts authorities in 1651, when
along with Holmes and Crandall he was called upon to
suffer for conscience' sake, he presented a brief summary
of their views, which in the " 111 News " he has developed
at some length: " I testify that no servant of Christ Jesus
hath any liberty, much less authority, from his Lord, to
smite his fellow-servant." This he proves by referring to
Scripture passages in which brotherly love, meekness, low-
liness, etc., are inculcated. " But to smite is an argument
of a domineering, proud, and lofty spirit, which is far from
a Spirit that is meek and lowly." He further refers to
the injunction when smitten to turn the other cheek. "This
Lord, being also that Prince of Peace, doth so far dislike
such practices as these among any servants of his . . .
that he hath absolutely and expressly declared that he by
no means will have a striker to supply the office of an
elder or steward therein, no, nor one that is of a lordly or
domineering spirit, nor yet one that is froward and will be
soon angry." He further testified, on the occasion re-
ferred to, that no servant of Christ has liberty or author-
ity, " with outward force or arm of flesh, to constrain or
restrain another's conscience, nor yet his outward man for
conscience' sake, or worship of his God, etc." He claims
that " if any servant of Christ Jesus . . . have any such
liberty or authority from his Lord so to do, then he is
able to shew it . . . either out of the words of the Lord
himself, or out of those that were spoken or writ by the
Apostles. . . . And indeed for a man to act in the name
of the Lord, and not to have a word or warrant from him,
is high presumption." He shows that there is no such
word and that such conduct is a direct usurpation of the
authority of Christ. Moreover, it is in sheer contradiction
Chap, iii.] CLARKE AS COUNSELOR AND AGENT. 103
of our Lord's command : " Do to others as ye would that
others should do unto you." He holds that " to persecute,
prosecute, or enforce others" is contradictory to Christ's
representation of believers as lambs in the midst of wolves.
" But the Lord hath reserved this great work of ordering
the understanding and conscience, which is the spirit of
man, by way of constraint or restraint; and also the out-
ward man, with respect to the worship of God, . . . in his
own hand, and in the hand of his Spirit, and hath intended
to manage it as a part of his Kingdom, by his own Spirit,
and by another manner of ministry than that which is put
forth in the kingdoms of men." This proposition he
proves by abundant citations of Scripture. Again: "That
which presupposeth one man to ha\e dominion over an-
other man's conscience " he speaks of as " but a forcing of
servants and worshipers upon the Lord, at the least, which
he seeks not for, and is a ready way to make men dissem-
blers and hypocrites before God and man, which wise men
abhor; and to put men upon the profaning the name of
the Lord, that can no servant of Christ Jesus have any
liberty, much less authority, from his Lord to do." He
shows further that Christ Jesus "sharply reproved and
checked his servants when he hath espied such a spirit as
this breaking forth in them." Again: "That which of
itself is inconsistent with the civil peace, libert}', prosperity,
and safety of a place, commonwealth, or nation, no servant
of Christ can have liberty, much less authority, from his
Lord, to do. But this outward forcing of men in matters
of conscience toward God to believe as others believe, and
to practice and worship as others do, cannot stand with the
peace, liberty, prosperity, and safety of a place, common-
wealth, or nation. Therefore," etc. He maintains that
there can be no peace in a commonwealth " so long as
there is an outward force and power to be had to main-
I04 77/£ BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
lain and uphold the carnal interests and advantages of
some upon religious accounts, and so prosecute others
who for conscience' sake toward God dare not, yea, cannot,
conform to their way. What hopes are thereby begotten
and nourished in some? what jealousies, suspicions, and
fears in others? what revengeful desires in most? yea, what
plottings and contrivings in all? and as a fruit and effect
hereof, what riding? running? troublesome and tumultuous
assemblings together, and sidings? yea, and outrageous
murderings and bloodsheddings are hereby produced in a
nation, to gain that power and sword to their party, either
to crush, suppress, or cause the other to conform, or at
the least and best to save themselves from being crushed,
suppressed, or forced to conformity? " He insists that by
granting liberty of conscience " shall all parties be deeply
obliged, to the utmost of their lives and estates, to bear
up that power, without which they cannot expect to enjoj-
peace, libert3% and safety themselves."
From the beginning Clarke was the trusted counselor
of the Rhode Island colonists. While he seems to have
shrunk from occupying the highest position at home, his
influence is manifest in every important measure, and
whenever it became necessary to send a representative to
England in the interests of colonial rights he was the
chosen representative of the people. When William Cod-
dington had without the approval of a majority of the
citizens of the island secured in England a grant of the
territory in his own right, Clarke was sent to England by
Newport and Portsmouth to procure the annulling of the
charter. In this undertaking he had the cooperation of
Roger Williams, who acted on behalf of Providence and
Warwick. Williams returned soon after the business had
been accomplished, but for twelve years Clarke remained
in England as the representative of the colonists and the
Chap, hi.] THE XRW CHARTER OE KMS. 105
guardian of their rights. It was during this visit to Eng-
land that he pubHshed " 111 News from New England," a
work that did more than any other publication to call the
attention of the world to the intolerance of New England
Puritanism and the iniquity of such intolerance. In Eng-
land he was closely associated with many of the leading
men of the Cromwellian age, notably with John Milton,
the Latin secretary, a radical in politics and religion.
Just how his time was employed during this long resi-
dence in the mother-land we are not informed; but it is
probable that he was at the same time deepening the foun-
dations of his theological, civic, and medical knowledge, and
seeking to advance the cause of Christ in such ways as were
open to him. The following contemporary notice, being a
communication from the town of Warwick to the colonial
council, is of interest: "We know that Mr. Clarke did
publicly exercise his ministry in the Word of God in Lon-
don, as his letters have made report, as that being a chief
place for his profit and preferment, which, we doubt not,
brought him in good means for his maintenance ; as also
he was much about modelizing of matters concerning the
aiTairs of England, as his letters have declared, in which,
no doubt, he was encouraged by men of no small estates,
who, in all likehhood, did communicate liberally for such
of his labors and studies." The stress laid upon his possi-
ble emoluments was due to the somewhat niggardly desire
on the part of the town to be released from its proportion
of the allowance made to Clarke for his services. Much of
his time was no doubt given to the affairs of the colony,
and after the accession of Charles II. he succeeded in se-
curing a charter for " Rhode Island and Providence Plan-
tations," in 1663. The charter of 1644, ratified in 1647,
had never been satisfactory on account of the indefinite-
ness of its provisions. Disputes as to boundaries had
I06 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
arisen which could scarcely be settled by other than British
authority. Moreover, with the restoration of the Stuarts
the acts of the revolutionary period had been nullified.
This charter, though given by a king of despotic tenden-
cies, who was at that very time bitterly persecuting dis-
senters, is one of the most remarkable, in its provisions for
civil and religious liberty, ever issued by an English sover-
eign. It makes suitable acknowledgment of the Indian
titles to the land ; it declares " that no person within the
said colony, at any time hereafter, shall be anywise mo-
lested, punished, disquieted, or called in question for any
difference in opinion in matters of religion which do not
actually disturb the civil peace of our said colony ; but
that all and every person and persons may, from time to
time, and at all times hereafter, freely and fully have and
enjoy his and their own judgments and consciences in
matters of religious concernments ; . . . they behaving
themselves peaceably and quietly, and not using this lib-
erty to licentiousness and profaneness, nor to the civil in-
jury or outward disturbance of others." The provisions of
the earlier charter for government by a majority of the free-
men of the colony are substantially confirmed in the new.
Rhode Islanci, through Clarke's diplomacy, secured the
recognition of claims to territory disputed by Connecticut
and Massachusetts. Clarke was bitterly opposed in his
efforts to secure the charter by the representatives of
Massachusetts and Connecticut, and these colonies were
greatly chagrined by his success. It was natural that they
should insinuate that this Baptist statesman, who had so
ruthlessly exposed the intolerance of the Massachusetts
authorities, had secured the charter by improper means.
But the documentary history of the time fully vindicates
Clarke, while it reflects gravely upon the methods of his
traducers. (Arnold, i., 287 scq)
Chap, hi.] CLARKE AS A BAPTIST. 107
There was universal rejoicing throughout Rhode Island
and Providence Plantations that the aspirations of the
colonists for liberty and for their rigiits in relation to the
other colonies had been so amply secured by their honored
and beloved agent. The bearer of the royally sealed doc-
ument was handsomely rewarded for his fidelity. It was
voted " that Mr. John Clarke, the Colony's agent in Eng-
land, be saved harmless in his estate ; and to that end that
all his disbursements going to England, and all his ex-
penses and engagements there already laid out, ... as
also . . . expenses and engagements he shall be necessi-
tated yet further to disburse, . . . shall all be repaid,
paid, and discharged by this Colony. . . . That in con-
sideration of . . . his great pains, labor, and travail with
much faithfulness exercised for above twelve years in be-
half of this Colony, in England, the thanks of the Colony
be sent unto him by the Governor and Deputy Governor ;
and for a gratuity unto him, the Assembly engage that
the Colony shall pay unto the said John Clarke, . . . over
and besides what is above engaged, the sum ... of one
hundred pound sterling." This was undoubtedly the
crowning achievement of Clarke's civil career. The
charter remained in force until 1843. From the time of
its adoption Rhode Island was practically a free, demo-
cratic state, with the amplest provision for liberty of con-
science.
The later public services of John Clarke must be passed
over. His life was one of singular disinterestedness and
self-devotion. Few men have been so prominently en-
gaged in public affairs without arousing antagonisms
among those with whom they have been associated. But
so well balanced was his mind, so just were his judgments,
so thorough was his understanding of human nature and
of the problems of his time, so evident was it to all that he
Io8 THE- BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
was seeking no private ends at tlie expense of others, that
he seems to have been universally honored, trusted, and
beloved. If enemies he had they were the enemies of
his religion and of his colony.
But the aspect of his life which justifies his introduction
into the present work has as yet been barely touched
upon. John Clarke was a Baptist of the completest and
purest type, the most important American Baptist of the
century in which he lived. When or under what circum-
stances he adopted Baptist views seems not to have been
recorded. There is some probability in favor of the sup-
position that he came to America a Baptist. The fact
that we have no intimation of any change in his views, or
of his baptism in New England, is so far fa\'orable to this
supposition. He may have had his attention called to the
matter by Roger Williams, who, about a year after Clarke's
first visit to Providence, introduced beh'evers' baptism and
organized a Baptist church. He may have been bap-
tized by Mark Lukar, one of the earliest of the English
Particular Baptists, who is said to have been one of the
founders of the Newport church, and who for many years
nobly served the church as a ruling elder. At any rate
this connecting-link between the first Particular Baptist
church of England and the second of America, hitherto
overlooked, is a matter of no small interest. If Robert
Lenthall, who was driven from Weymouth, Mass., for
erroneous views in 1638, and who accepted citizenship at
Newport in 1640, was a Baptist, Clarke may have been
influenced by him ; but the account we have of Lenthall's
view\s leaves us in doubt as to his precise position.
Clarke began his ministry on the island soon after his
arrival. Winthrop designates him, in 1638, as "a physi-
cian and preacher to those of the island." The colonists
were not long in building a meeting-house at the common
Chap. III.] CLARK AS A BAPTIST. 1 09
expense, and a church was soon organized, on what basis
we are not informed. A number of those who had been
members of the Boston church, and had incurred censure
on account of their sympathy with Mrs, Hutchinson and
her views, were members of this church.
By 1640-41 rehgious dissension had become acute. A
number of the islanders carried their antinomian views to
their extreme consequences, and, if correctly represented,
sought to promulgate a licentious pantheism. Easton,
Codciington, and Coggeshall represented the antinomian
position and were opposed by Clarke, Lenthall, Harding,
and others. " Professed Anabaptists," according to Win-
throp, appeared on the island as early as 1641. He is prob-
ably in error in representing the Anabaptists of the island as
denying magistracy, the bearing of arms, and the existence
of true churches, and maintaining the necessity of special
apostolic intervention in order to the constitution of such.
It seems to ha\-e been some of the antinomians that held
to these views. As like \iews were currently attributed
to the Anabaptists of the sixteenth centur\-, and as men
of Winthrop's stamp were looking for the development of
such views among contemporary Baptists, it was natural
that when he learned that there were Baptists on the
island, and that there were ad\ocates of these views of
magistracy, warfare, and church constitution, he should
have taken it for granted that the two sets of views be-
longed to the same party. It is probable that the anti-
pedobaptists, under Clarke's leadership, began to hold
.separate meetings in 1641. In a MS. copy of Lechford's
"Plain Dealing" (written probably in 1641) it is stated
that " at the island called Aquedny are about one hun-
dred families. There is a church where one Master Clarke
is Pastor. . . . The place where the church is is called
Newport." In the printed work (1642) the number of
I I o THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
inhabitants is given as two hundred, and after " Newport "
is added, " but the church, I hear, is now dissolved; as also
divers churches in the country have been broken up and
dissolved througli dissension." It is evident that religious
affairs on the island were in great confusion about 1641-
42, and it is probable that at this time a more general
congregation to which Clarke ministered was broken up,
and that the antipedobaptist members now began a sepa-
rate meeting. An early tradition, put on record by John
Comer in the next century, places the organization of the
church in the year 1644. It is probable that the Baptist
meeting, begun in 1641 or 1642, assumed more completely
the character of a church in 1644.
Samuel Hubbard, a well-educated and deeply spiritual
man, having lived for a number of years in Connecticut,
where he embraced Baptist views, removed to Newport
and was received by baptism, along with his wife, into the
Newport church in November, 1648. He thus describes
their experience at Fairfield, Conn. : " God ha\'ing en-
lightened both, but mostly my wife, into his holy ordi-
nance of baptizing only visible believers, and being zealous
for it, she was mostly struck at, and answered twice pub-
licly, where I was also said to be as bad as she, and threat-
ened with imprisonment to Hartford gaol, if we did not
renounce it or remove. That Scripture came into our
minds, ' If they persecute you in one place, flee to an-
other.' " He conducted an extensive correspondence,
private and on behalf of the church, and to his letters we
are indebted for much valuable information with reference
to the religious history of the time. He was a lifelong
friend of Roger Williams and frequently exchanged views
with him in correspondence. In 1665 Stephen Mumford,
an English Seventh-Day Baptist, united with the church
and propagated his views '>o industriously that Hubbard,
Chap, hi.] HOLMES, LUKAK, AXD ll'EEDEX. i i i
Hiscox, and others were soon zealous Sabbatarians. At
last they became so convinced of the sinfulness of the
neglect of the Sabbath (which they regarded as an ordi-
nance of God, binding for all time and transferred by no
Scriptural warrant to the first day), and by consequence so
censorious and intolerant of the common practice, that in
167 1 a Seventh-Day Baptist church was formed at Newport.
Two of Clarke's brothers, Thomas and Joseph, appear
among the early members of the Newport church. The
latter became somewhat prominent in the affairs of the
colony. The first deacon appears to have been William
Weeden, and Mark Lukar was designated a " ruling elder."
The Baptist cause at Seekonk, Mass., led by Obadiah
Holmes, was fostered by Clarke and his brethren, who vis-
ited the community for preaching and the administration
of baptism. After the meeting had been broken up by
the authorities most of the members removed to Newport,
where they formed a valuable accession to the church.
The evangelistic visit of Clarke, Holmes, and Crandall to
Lynn, Mass., to minister to an aged and infirm Baptist,
William Witter by name, and possibly to assist others who
were inclined to the Baptist way, with the cruel persecu-
tion that they suffered there, may be reserved for the next
chapter. This occurred in the summer of 165 i. Clarke
was soon afterward sent to England as agent of the col-
ony. During his prolonged absence the work was car-
ried on by Obadiah Holmes and Joseph Torrey, the latter
as well as the former one of the Seekonk company. Shortly
after Clarke's departure controversy arose with reference to
the laying on of hands. Soon after the division in Provi-
dence on the ground of this ceremony, in 1652, William
Vaughan, a member of the Newport church, who had
adopted Six Principle views, visited Providence to submit
to the laying on of hands and to arrange for a Six Princi-
I 12
THE BAPTISTS. [Pek. i.
pie propaganda in Newport. He returned accompanied
by Wickenden and Dexter. The time did not prove ripe
for the estabhshment of a new congregation, but from thi.s
time onward an active and aggressive minority favored
insistence on the six principles, and in 1656 a new church
was formed on this basis.
After his return in 1664 Clarke resumed the leadership
of the congregation and was ably assisted by Holmes, Tor-
rey, Lukar, and Weeden, who for so many years had been
among the chief burden-bearers in the church. Next to
Clarke, Torrey was the most prominent man among the
Baptists of the island in civil affairs, having been at one
time attorney-general and for years general recorder. The
church was sadly afflicted in 1676 by the death of four of
its standard-bearers. Torrey died early in the year, and
was foUow^ed in April by Clarke, in October by Weeden,
and in December by Lukar. The church had already suf-
fered two schisms, and the Quaker agitation had hindered
its progress. When these four noted men had been re-
moved by death, those who remained may well have felt
discouraged.
Obadiah Holmes, already a septuagenarian (he was born
about 1606), succeeded to the pastorate and retained it till
his death in 1682. He was well educated, and had for
many years, at great personal cost, labored in the Bap-
tist cause. The narrative of his sufferings in Massachu-
setts in 1 65 I will be found in the next chapter. Among
the more noted members of the church during the latter
part of the century was John Cooke, who had been a Con-
o-reffational minister in the Plvmouth colony, and who was
converted to Baptist views before 1680 by reading the
" Narrative " of Elder Russell, of the Boston church. As
a boy he was among the passengers of the " Mayflower "
and was still living in 1694. Another prominent member
CnAi'. 111.] WILLIAM PECKHAM. II3
was Philip Edes, who, according to Samuel Hubbard, was
" one in office in Oliver's [Cromwell's] house, was for lib-
erty of conscience, a merchant, a precious man, of a holy
life and conversation, beloved of all sorts of men, his death
much bewailed by all." As has already been made evi-
dent, the First Baptist Church of Newport was strictly Cal-
vinistic in doctrine. A correspondence with the Particular
Baptists of England was kept up, and the relations of the
church with the Swansea and Boston churches were most
intimate.
About 1687 the church secured the services of a young
Englishman, Richard Dingley by name, who had spent
some time in Boston, and who came to Newport recom-
mended by Boston Baptists. Thomas Skinner, deacon of
the Boston church, assisted at his ordination. After about
seven years of service he removed to South Carolina. For
a number of years the church was without a regular pastor
and its vital forces seem to have run \'ery \o\\\ William
Peckham, a member of the church, became pastor in 171 1.
In I 718 an Englishman named Daniel White was appointed
assistant pastor, and by his rashness in administering the
ordinances, though himself unordained, and his disposition
to disregard the rights of the less aggressive and prob-
ably less intelligent pastor, the church was thrown into
confusion. The result was that White and his friends
withdrew and formed a separate congregation in 1724.
The new church did not prosper, and when White aban-
doned the enterprise in 1728 it is said that " the only sur-
viving member that he left behind him was a solitary
woman."
Unwisely, as it would seem, Peckham, who must have
been from age or other causes utterly unfitted for the
leadership of the church, continued to sustain the relation
of elder or head pastor until his death in 1732.
I I 4 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
The pastorate of John Comer was in many respects a suc-
cessful one, but it ended unpleasantly. Comer came to
the church (1725) as a young man of twenty-one, yet with
a maturity far beyond his years. A native of Boston, he
had had his preparatory training at Cambridge and had
studied at Yale College. He had a profound experience
of divine grace when he was seventeen years of age, and
a year afterward " was received into full communion with
the [Congregational] church in Cambridge." He had
probably already resolved to devote himself to the gospel
ministry. A short time afterward a " near companion "
of his "embraced the principle of believers' baptism . . .
and was baptized by Mr. E. Callender, in Boston." On re-
monstrating with his friend for abandoning what he re-
garded as a divine institution. Comer was induced to read
Joseph Stennett's treatise on baptism. It was his expec-
tation that he would find many flaws in it and that by
pointing these out he would be able to win his friend from
the error of his way. He " resolved to turn to every
Scripture quoted, and not to take any one without." In
so doing he found that he " had never duly considered
the viii. of the Acts, the iii. of Matthew, and the vi. of
Romans, and such like places. Hereupon I got (though
privately) books on the other side of the controversy and
found them, if weighed in the balance, wanting." The
result was a great inner conflict. He was convinced that
his baptism was defective, and yet he shrank from sever-
ing his otherwise happy relations with the Congregatlon-
alists. It was not until he had pursued his studies at Yale
that he resolved to follow the path of duty in this matter.
In January, 1725, he was baptized by Elisha Callender,
and shortly afterward entered the Baptist ministry. He
soon had his choice between the pastorate of the Swansea
and that of the Newport church. Through much prayer
Chap, hi.] COMER ACCEPTS hMPOSITIOX OF IIAXDS. \ 15
and the helpful counsel of Callender he decided in favor
of Newport. In March, 1726, he was ordained to the
ministry by Elder Peckham and Deacon Maxwell. The
church had dwindled down to a membership of eighteen —
ten men and eight women. Comer kept a minute diary,
and we are indebted to him for much interesting informa-
tion about the Baptists of his time. His researches into
the history of the earlier time have likewise been of great
use to later investigators. He informs us that there were
in Newport at this time'seven congregations : " Two Bap-
tist churches, one under hands, Mr. James Clarke and Mr.
Daniel Wightman, Pastors. My flock. . . . One Seventh-
Day church, Mr. Joseph Crandall, Pastor. One congre-
gation under the care of Mr. Daniel White " (already
mentioned), and congregations of Congregationahsts, Epis-
copalians, and Quakers, the last " very large." The anti-
nomians of the early time had for the most part become
Quakers.
The early stages of Comer's ministry were highly pros-
perous. He surpassed most of his contemporaries in evan-
gelistic zeal and gifts. During the first year twenty-four
were added to the church. The church contributed for
the support of the pastor during the first year more than
i^85, during the second year more than ^^93, while in the
third year the pastor's income had fallen to ^^38. The
support given was generous for the time, and the falling
off was due to the fact that the pastor had adopted the
doctrine of the laying on of hands. Congregational sing-
ing, repudiated by many Baptist churches of the time,
especially those of the Arminian persuasion, was intro-
duced into the Newport church through Comer's influ-
ence. Though young in years and in the pastoral office,
Comer's reputation soon became so widespread that he
was often applied to for counsel even from remote parts
IIO THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
of the country. His evangelistic zeal led him to extend
his labors far beyond Newport and Rhode Island.
The adoption of the doctrine of the laying on of hands
as an obligatory ordinance invoh'ed serious embarrassment
for the pastor and the church. The chief difficulty of the
pastor lay in the fact that while he sympathized with the
Six Principle churches in this particular doctrine he was
strongly opposed to their Arminianism. Moreover, he had
built a needlessly expensive house and had become heav-
ily involved in debt. The church- could not, of course, be
expected to sit patiently under the preaching of doctrine
that they believed to be erroneous. On January 9th he re-
cords : " I passed under hands by Mr. Daniel Wightman,
and offered for transient communion until Spring, or till I
saw how God in his Holy Providence might dispose of
me."
For more than two years he was without a settled
charge, though for most of the time he preached once
each Lord's Day for the Six Principle church at Newport.
Here also his ministry was fruitful ; for forty were added
to the church during one year, the largest addition the
church had ever had in any year of its history. At the
close of his engagement it numbered 150 and was by far
the largest church in the colony. His " preaching the
doctrines of grace " proved an obstacle to his permanent
settlement there. After a tour of the churches of New
Jersey and Pennsylvania, where the Particular Baptist
churches practiced the laying on of hands, he assisted in
organizing a church on a like basis in Rehoboth, Mass.
(January, 1732), where he labored happily and successfully
till his death (May 23, 1734).
Comer gives us an account of a meeting at Newport
(June 21,1 729) of the "Yearly Association" of the General
(Six Principle) Baptists. He speaks of it as " the largest
CiiAi\ m.] SIX PRINCIPLE ASSOCFATION. 11/
Convention that ever. hath been," thus intimating that this
was far from being its first meeting. Besides the New-
port and Providence churches, the churches of New York,
Groton, Conn., Dartmouth, R. I., New London, Conn., and
South Kingston, R. I., were represented. There were
thirty-two delegates present — eight ministers, three dea-
cons, and twenty-one brethren. " There are of churches
in communion thirteen distinct bodies. In Providence,
besides those mentioned, there are two under the care of
Mr. Peter Place [and] Mr. Samuel Fisk. In the town of
Swanzey one under the care of Mr. Joseph Maxson. In the
town of Warwick one under the care of Mr. Manasseh Mar-
tin. In North Kingston one under the care of Mr. Richard
Sweet. 'Tis supposed there were 250 communicants and
1000 auditors. Each of these held the Doctrine of Gen-
eral Redemption. There are three other churches that
hold the Doctrine of Free Grace. One at Newport, . . .
formerly my flock. One at Swanzey under the care of
Mr. Ephraim Wheaton. One at Boston under the care
of Mr. Elisha Callender. There are two churches in the
observation of the Seventh Day. One at Westerly under
the care of Mr. Joseph Maxson. One at Newport under
the care of Mr. Joseph Crandal."
John Callender, a nephew of Elisha Callender, and like
him a graduate of Harvard, was called to the pastorate of
the First Church, Newport, in 1730, a youth of twenty-
one. He continued in this relation till his death in 1748.
On the occasion of the centennial of the settlement of the
island (March, 1738) Callender preached an historical ser-
mon, which is said to have been the first attempt to collect
and arrange the materials relating to the early history of
the colony. It is still regarded as a masterpiece.
CHAPTER IV.
BAPTISTS IN MASSACHUSETTS TO 1652.I
In reviewing the dealings of the Massachusetts author-
ities with Roger WilHams we have learned something of
their attitude toward aggressive and pertinacious dissent,
whether in civil or in religious matters. The Massachu-
setts Bay leaders were nonconforming Puritans, and they
had secured their charter with the full understanding that
they did not repudiate the Church of England and were
far removed from separatism of any kind. They sought
to be regarded " as those who esteem it our honor to call
the Church of England, from whence we rise, our dear
mother; and cannot part from our native country, where
she specially resideth, without much sadness of heart and
many tears in our eyes ; ever acknowledging that such
hope and part as we have obtained in the common salva-
tion we have received in her bosom, and sucked it from
her breasts." Under Laud's domineering in England it
would have been impossible for a body of avowed sepa-
ratists to secure a charter or to get permission to leave the
country. Even the Salem company, w^hich represented a
more thoroughgoing type of dissent, had thought it advis-
able to repudiate separatism, and had refused passage on
their vessel to Ralph Smith, who was coming out as pastor
of the semi-separatist followers of John Robinson, who
1 Cf. Backus, Clarke, "111 News," Winslow, "Good News," Win-
tlirop, Ellis, Morton, Mather, Hutchinson. Adams, Felt, Palfrey.
118
Chap. IV.] NEW ENGLAND PURITANISM. i ig
constituted the older Plymouth colony. " We will not
say," they wrote, " as the Separatists were wont to say at
their leaving of England, Farewell, Babylon! Farewell,
Rome ! but we will say. Farewell, dear England ! Fare-
well, the Church of God in England, and all the Christian
friends there ! We do not go to New England as Separatists
from the Church of England ; though we cannot but sepa-
rate from the corruptions in it ; but we go to practice the
positive part of church reformation, and propagate the
gospel in America." The Salem colony soon came under
the influence of the Plymouth settlement, and it was not
long before the pastor of the Salem church was refusing
the Lord's Supper to such leaders of the Massachusetts
Bay company as Winthrop, Dudley, Johnson, and Cod-
dington, and declining to baptize the child of the last-
named, because they had not yet become members of any
particular " reformed church " ; w^hile he had welcomed to
communion a member of an English separatist congrega-
tion and had baptized his child.
The Massachusetts Bay authorities failed utterly to
recognize the practicability of tolerating any marked dif-
ferences of doctrine or practice. To allow companies of
believers to organize themselves for worship on any other
basis than that adopted by the party in the majority, or to
allow individuals to propagate freely views opposed to
those of the recognized churches, could result only in con-
fusion and disaster as regards the colonies themselves, and
in such a reputation in England as would result in the
withdrawal of the charter, the sending out of an unfriendly
governor, or even the recall and punishment of the colo-
nists. The leaders of Massachusetts were peculiarly sensi-
tive about the sending of adverse reports to England. In
fact they deprecated the reporting of the actual state of
things, and they took every precaution to prevent the
I20 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
settlement of such as would be likely to injure the repu-
tation of the colonies by unfriendly representations. As
early as May, 1631, a regulation was adopted by the Gen-
eral Court that " for time to come no man shall be ad-
mitted to the freedom of this body poHtic but such as are
members of some of the churches within the limits of the
same." This excluded Baptists from all civil privileges.
The freeman's oath, referred to in the chapter on Roger
Williams, was intended as a means of rigorously excluding
all who should fall short of loyalty to existing arrange-
ments.
The case of Roger Williams had scarcely been disposed
of when the Massachusetts colonies were convulsed with
another religious controversy that was soon to involve the
whole of New England. Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, with her
husband, had been attracted to Boston from England by
the person and the teachings of John Cotton, the leading-
Boston minister, and had arrived in September, 1634. Her
brother-in-law, John Wheelwright, had followed in May,
1636. Mrs. Hutchinson was one of the most striking relig-
ious characters of the time. Endowed with a rare person-
ality and with a spirit of helpfulness which gave her remark-
able influence over the women among whom she moved,
she was able at the same time to win a number of the most
prominent men of New England to her views. The teach-
ings of Mrs. Hutchinson and her followers are commonly
designated antinomianism. They laid great stress upon
the covenant of grace as opposed to the covenant of
works. They regarded the current Puritanism, with its
rigorous discipline and its scrupulous attention to the outer
life, as Pharisaic legalism. They insisted on the paramount
importance of the inner life. If by a mystical union with
Christ our natures are transformed, the outer life cannot
fail to be holy ; if the tree be made good, the fruit will be
CuAi'. IV.] THE ANriXOMIAX CONTROVEKSY. \2\
of like character. They made much of visions and revela-
tions, and claimed to be in so complete fellowship with
God as to be responsive to e\'ery prompting of his Spirit.
It was the old mysticism of the middle ages, modified no
doubt, directly or indirectly, by the teachings of Schwenck-
feldt, David Joris, and Henry Nicholas. The last-named
had secured a considerable following in England, and his
writings had been translated and widely circulated. Fami-
lism was the name given to his system, and it represented
a pantheistic type of mysticism, somewhat like that of the
medieval Beghards. While the tendency of such teach-
ings is undoubtedly toward fanaticism and licentiousness, it
is gratifying to know that the New England antinomians
compared favorably with their orthodox neighbors in point
of morality and well-doing. John Cotton, Williams's chief
opponent and one of the ablest theologians of the time,
was the favorite preacher of the Boston antinomians dur-
ing Mrs. Hutchinson's residence there, while Wilson, his
colleague, was regarded as a mere legalist. Sir Henry
Vane, the governor, sided enthusiastically with the anti-
nomians, while John Winthrop, the deputy governor, took
a determined stand against innovation. The antinomi-
ans were strong in Boston and its immediate vicinity ; but
orthodoxy prevailed in the Massachusetts colonies at large.
After much controversy Mrs. Hutchinson and Wheelwright
were banished, and various penalties and disabilities, in-
cluding disarmament, were infiicted on those that had
manifested sympathy with their teachings. Cotton him-
self was brought into a very embarrassing situation by
reason of the partiality of the antinomians for his preach-
ing and the sympathy he had expressed for some of the
views of Mrs. Hutchinson and Wheelwright ; and having
been censured for his course, he felt obliged to apologize
in a way not wholly creditable to his consistency or his
122 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
courage. The attitude of John Clarke toward the anti-
nomians and their persecutors was referred to in the last
chapter. Among the leaders of the movement was Wil-
liam Coddington, who had occupied a high civil position
in Massachusetts, who became a chief opponent of Roger
Williams in civil matters, who was for a time governor of
the Rhode Island and Providence Plantations colony, and
who became a leader among the Quakers.
Reference has already been made to the settlement of
the antinomians and their friends in Rhode Island. It
does not concern us here to narrate the disputes that arose
between the islanders and the Providence people.
Three considerations justify this brief mention of the
antinomian movement: (i) the fact that the controversy
in Massachusetts and the rigorous methods adopted in
dealing with the antinomians formed a prelude to the
series of persecuting measures that were soon to be inau-
gurated against the Baptists; (2) the fact that the Massa-
chusetts leaders saw in the mystical enthusiasm of the
antinomians a recurrence of phenomena with which they
had become familiar in their reading of the history of Ana-
baptists of the Miinster type; and (3) the fact that in the
case of some at least sympathy with the teachings of Mrs.
Hutchinson and disgust with the intolerance of the Massa-
chusetts authorities formed a transition to the Baptist
position, while others, dominated by the mystical element
in the teachings of Mrs. Hutchinson, found their resting-
place in Quakerism, with its emphasizing of the inner
light and its repudiation of external ordinances.
The early Puritans of New England (as of Old) knew
nothing of " Baptists." The opponents of infant baptism
were in their eyes "Anabaptists." Their knowledge of
Anabaptists was limited to the grossly exaggerated ac-
counts of the fanatics of the Miinzer and the Miinster types.
Chap. IV.] BAPTISTS MISUXDERSTOOD. I23
They were quite willing to admit that individual opponents
of infant baptism might be to all outward seeming quiet,
peaceable Christians ; but they were fully convinced that
the logic of the antipedobaptist position led inevitably to
the overthrow of all social order, with the denial of magis-
tracy, oaths, the right of the civil government to censure
religious offenses, and, under favorable circumstances, to
such fanatical outbreaks as that of Miinster. One has
only to read such works as Featley's "The Dippers Dipt "
(1644), Edwards's " Gangrasna " (1646), Baillie's "A
Dissuasive from the Errors of the Time" (1645), Paget's
" Heresiography " (1645), and the earlier continental
Latin works on which these based their statements with
reference to Anabaptists, to realize the horror which the
name "Anabaptist" awakened in the souls of such men
as Cotton, Hooker, Winthrop, and Endicott. So much
must be said in order to account for the rancorous hatred
of Baptists by the New England theocratic leaders, their
lack of judicial fairness in dealing with radical dissentients
of all types, and their determination, even by the inflic-
tion of the crudest penalties, if need be, to exterminate
heresy.
Salem, where Roger Williams's influence had been
brought most powerfully to bear, was in the earlier time
the chief nursery of antipedobaptist sentiments. During
the years 1636-39 those who entertained decided anti-
pedobaptist views had followed Williams to Providence.
After he had ceased to identify himself with the Baptists,
and especially after strife had arisen in the Providence
church, there would be less to attract them thither. New-
port after 1644 was a more attractive refuge.
As early as 1638, at Weymouth, Robert Lenthall, after-
ward active in Newport, attracted attention by his views.
" Only baptism," he held, " was the door of entrance into
124 ^-^^^^ BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
the visible church." (" Mass. Hist. Coll.," 2d series, v.,
275.) According to Hubbard, " the common sort of peo-
ple did eagerly embrace his opinions." He is said to have
zealously striven " to get such a church on foot as all bap-
tized ones might communicate in." It is not quite clear,
however, that his views were Baptist.
The earliest assured case of theocratic censure on the
ground of antipedobaptist error occurred December 14,
1642, at the Salem Quarterly Court. The record runs:
" The Lady Deborah Moody, Mrs. King, and the wife of
John Tilton were presented for holding that the baptizing
of infants is no ordinance of God." Winthrop reports the
matter more fully as regards the principal offender: " The
Lady Moody, a wise and anciently religious woman, being
taken with the error of denying baptism to infants, was
dealt withal by many of the elders and others, and ad-
monished by the cluirch of Salem (whereof she was a
member); but persisting still, and to avoid further trouble,
etc., she removed to the Dutch, against the advice of
all her friends. Many others infected with anabaptism
removed thither also. She was after excommunicated."
Winthrop does not inform us what Lady Moody's friends
advised her to do under the circumstances, but as they
would scarcely have advised her to face the determined
opposition of the authorities, which would have resulted in
formal banishment, with death as the penalty of returning,
they must have advised her to abandon her views or at
least any aggressive assertion of them. We shall meet
Lady Moody and her followers hereafter in their Long
Island home.
The next case on record seems to be that of William
Witter, who had probably been influenced by Lady
Moody, his neighbor. The date of his arraignment before
the Salem Court was February 28, 1644 (N. S.). The
Chap. IV.] WITTER AXD TA INFER. 125
record reads : " For entertaining that the baptism of in-
fants was sinful, [W. W.] now coming- in Salem Court,
answered humbly and confessed his ignorance, and his
willingness to see light, and (upon Mr. Morris, our Elder,
his speech) seemed to be staggered." He was charged
with having called " our ordinance of God a badge of the
whore." He is sentenced " on some lecture day, the next
fifth day being a public fast, to acknowledge his fault, . . .
and enjoined to be here next Court at Salem."
Witter's antipedobaptist zeal, however, seems by no
means to have been abated by this somewhat moderate
censure. A later record runs : " At the Court at Salem, held
the 1 8th of the 12th month, 1645 [February, 1646, N. S.],
WiUiam Witter, of Lynn, was presented by the grand jury
for saying that they who stayed whiles a child is baptized
do worship the devil. Henry Collins and Nat. West deal-
ingf with him thereabouts, he further said that thev who
stayed at the baptizing of a child did take the name of
the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost in vain, broke the Sab-
bath, and confessed and justified the former speech." He
was sentenced " to make public confession to satisfaction
in the open congregation at Lynn, or else to answer at the
next General Court." Failing to comply with either of
these conditions, he was afterward sentenced to appear
" at the next Court of Assistants, at Boston, there to
answer, and to be proceeded with according to the merit
of his offense." The forbearance of the court in the case
of Witter was due, it may be supposed, not wholly to
their unwillingness to resort to harsher methods in case
of need, but to the fact that he was a man of little per-
sonal influence. If he had been a successful propagator of
his views banishment would certainly have been inflicted.
On July 5, 1644, according to Winthrop, "A poor man
of Hingham, one Painter, . . . was now on the sudden
126 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. I.
turned Anabaptist, and having a child born, he would not
suffer his wife to bring it to the ordinance of baptism.
Being presented for this, and enjoined to suffer the child
to be baptized, he still refusing, and disturbing the church,
he was again brought to the Court, not only for his former
contempt, but also for saying that our baptism was anti-
christian; and in the open Court he affirmed the same.
Whereupon, after much patience and clear conviction of
his error, etc. — because he was very poor, so as no other
but corporal punishment could be fastened upon him — he
was ordered to be whipped, not for his opinion, but for his
reproaching the Lord's ordinance, and for his bold and
evil behavior both at home and in the Court. He endured
his punishment with much obstinacy, and when he was
loosed he said, boastingly, that God had marvelously
assisted him." This is not the first case in which perse-
cutors of Christ's chosen ones have been so swayed by
their prepossessions as to make light of their sufferings
and their faith, and to attribute their heroic bearing to
mere obstinacy. It is an old trick of Roman Catholic
persecutors. The statement that Painter was punished
not for his opinion but for his reproaching the Lord's
ordinance, etc., is too transparently casuistical to require
discussion. Surely the fact that antipedobaptist views,
unexpressed and kept in abeyance even when one's own
infant was involved, were tolerated, is a slender basis for
a claim of forbearance.
Cases of pronounced antipedobaptism were now becom-
ing so common, and the Baptist cause was making so
rapid progress in Providence and Newport, that specific
legislation against Baptists was felt to be desirable. On
November 13, 1644, the following law was promulgated:
" Forasmuch as experience hath plentifully proved that
since the first arising of the Anabaptists, about a hundred
Chap. IV. 3 LAW AGAINST BAPTISTS. 12/
years since, they have been the incendiaries of common-
weahhs and the infecters of persons in main matters of
religion, and the troublers of churches in all places where
they have been, and that they who have held the baptiz-
ing of infants unlawful have usually held other errors or
heresies together therewith, though they have (as other
heretics used to do) concealed the same till they spied out
a fit advantage and opportunity to vent them, by way of
questioi"h-or scruple, and whereas divers of this kind have,
since our coming into New England, appeared amongst
ourselves, some whereof have (as others before them) de-
nied the ordinance of magistracy and the lawfulness of
making war, and others the lawfulness of magistrates and
their inspection into any breach of the first table, which
opinions, if they should be connived at by us, are like to
be increased among us, and so must necessarily bring guilt
upon us, infection and trouble to the churches, and hazard
to the whole commonwealth, it is ordered and agreed that
if any person or persons within this jurisdiction shall either
openly condemn or oppose the baptism of infants, or go
about secretly to seduce others from the approbation or
use thereof, or shall purposely depart the congregation at
the administration of the ordinance, or shall deny the or-
dinance of magistracy or their lawful right or authority to
make war or to punish the outward breaches of the first
table, and shall appear to the Court willfully and obsti-
nately to continue therein after due time and means of
conviction, every such person or persons shall be sentenced
to banishment."
The statement that some of the antipedobaptists of New
England " denied the ordinance of magistracy and the law-
fulness of making war" is unsupported. In none of the
cases recorded is there the slightest hint of the holding of
such views. No one of the Baptists of New England can
128 THE BAPTISTS. [Per.!.
be shown to have held to or taught anything of the kind.
The .statement of the statute may possibly be accounted
for in one of the following ways, or by a combination of
these: i. The authorities may have confounded Anabap-
tists with antinomians. The antinomians were charged
with holding and promulgating a number of errors that
were precisely adapted to the purpose of supplementing
the errors of the Baptists and constituting them full-
fledged Anabaptists of the dreaded type. Some of those
who had been more or less closely associated with the
antinomians had become Baptists in their Rhode Island
home. Winthrop had written in 1641 : " Mrs. Hutchin-
son and those of Aquiday Island broached new heresies
every year. Divers of them turned professed Anabap-
tists, and would not wear any arms, and denied all magis-
tracy among Christians, and maintained that there were no
churches since those founded by the apostles and evangel-
ists, nor could any be, nor any pastors ordained nor seals
administered but by such, and that the church was to want
these all the time she continued in the wilderness, as yet
she was." This statement is a most confused one and
was probably based upon misinformation. " Those who
turned professed Anabaptists," so far as v.e know them,
were different persons from those who embraced the errors
referred to. The incongruity of applying the term " Ana-
baptist " to those who held that the valid administration
of the ordinances was, under existing circumstances, an
impo.ssibility, is manifest. Roger Williams, in adopting this
view, withdrew from fellowship with the Baptist church
he had founded. But even Williams was far from reject-
ing magistracy. The law against Baptists was probably
framed by the writer of this confused statement. Even
the antinomians, though they held peculiar views with
respect to magistracy, and were charged even by Roger
Chap, iv.] UNFOUNDED CHARGES. 1 29
Williams with rejecting it, repudiated the charge. 2. The
statement may have been made, not on the ground of al-
leged utterances by Baptists, but by way of logical infer-
ence from avowed views. The Massachusetts authorities
supposed themselves to be such masters of the anatomy of
sects that from a single feature they could infer the entire
structure. The denial of the right of magistrates to in-
terfere with matters of conscience, or to concern them-
selves in any way with breaches of " the first table," no
doubt seemed to them to involve denial of the right of
magistrates to do anything effective. Of course it is not
impossible that some individual of the time should have
combined the rejection of infant baptism with denial of
magistracy and of the lawfulness of war on the part of
Christians. But all the Baptists of New England that we
know anything about were quite ready to serve their fel-
low-citizens in any offices to which they might be called,
and they were ready when occasion offered to do their full
share of fighting.
During the struggle with the antinomians a law had
been passed prohibiting newcomers from remaining in
the colony above three weeks without a license. In Octo-
ber, 1645, a petition was presented to the court for the
alteration of this law, as well as of that against the Ana-
baptists. The record of the action of the court in the
premises is: "The Court hath voted that the laws men-
tioned should not be altered at all, nor explained." Evi-
dently some of the citizens besides the avowed Baptists
were coming to feel that banishment was too severe a
penalty for religious dissent, and were bold enough to say
so. To fortify the court in its attitude toward Baptists
seventy-eight residents of Dorchester, Roxbury, etc., peti-
tioned in Mav. 1646, " for the continuance of such orders,
without abrogation or weakening, as are in force against
I ^^o
THE BAPTISTS. [Pkr. i.
Anabaptists and other erroneous persons." This petition,
it is needless to say, was "granted." In October, 1648,
the court was " informed of great misdemeanor committed
by Edward Starbuck, of Dover, with profession of Ana-
baptistry, for which he is to be proceeded against at the
next Court of Assistants if evidence can be prepared by
that time."
The following record is interesting as containing an ac-
count of an important Baptist movement in the Plymouth
colony, and also as illustrating the zeal with which the
Massachusetts Bay authorities carried their activity against
" Anabaptists " beyond their own jurisdiction. The date
of this letter to the Plymouth authorities is October, 1649:
" Honored and beloved Brethren : We have heard here-
tofore of divers Anabaptists arisen up in your jurisdiction,
and connived at ; but being but few, we well hoped that
it might have pleased God, by the endeavors of yourselves
and the faithful elders with you, to have reduced such
erring men again into the right way. But now, to our
great grief, we are credibly informed that your patient
bearing with such men hath produced another effect,
namely, the multiplying and increasing of such errors, and
we fear maybe of other errors also, if timely care be not
taken to suppress the same. Particulariy we understand
that within this few weeks there have been at Sea Cunke
thirteen or fourteen persons rebaptized (a swift progress
in one town), yet we hear not if any effectual restriction
is intended thereabouts. Let it not, we pray you, seem
presumption in us to mind you hereof, nor that we ear-
nestly entreat you to take care as well of the suppressing
of errors as of the maintenance of truth, God equally re-
quiring the performance of both at the hands of Christian
magistrates, but rather that you will consider our interest
is concerned therein. The infection of such diseases being
Chap, iv.] ZEAL IX PERSECUTION. I3I
SO near are likely to spread into our jurisdiction. . . . We
are united by confederacy, by faith, by neighborhood, by
fellowship in our sufferings as exiles, and by other Chris-
tian bonds, and we hope neither Satan nor any of his in-
struments shall by these or any other errors disunite us,
and that w^e shall never have cause to repent us of our
so near conjunction with you, but that we shall both so
equally and zealously uphold all the truths of God re-
vealed that we may render a comfortable account to him
that hath set us in our places and betrusted us with the
keeping of both tables."
Supposing the Massachusetts Court to have been correct
in their apprehension of the will of God and the duties of
magistrates, and in regarding the Baptists as instruments
of Satan to disunite the colonies bound together by such
tender ties, nothing could be more reasonable than the re-
quest or demand for the rigorous suppression of these in-
novators. The chief disturber of the Seekonk (Rehoboth)
community was Obadiah Holmes, whom we shall meet
later among the sufferers for conscience' sake. After a
profound religious experience in England (he had been a
wayward son, and whereas three of his brothers had been
educated at Oxford he had refused to avail himself of the
opportunity to secure a liberal education and had derided
religion), he came to New England in 1638. He united
with the Salem church, where he remained about seven
years. Becoming dissatisfied there, he removed to Reho-
both in 1645, where he united with the church under the
ministry of Samuel Newman. In 1649, having become
convinced, along wnth some others, that infant baptism was
not in accord with the teachings of Scripture, they were
immersed by John Clarke of Newport. He was soon after-
ward excommunicated by his pastor, and in June, 1650,
along with two others, was presented to the General Court
132 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
at Plymouth, four petitions, one from the Boston Court,
ha\ing been entered against them. In October, 1652, the
following " Presentment by the Grand Inquest " was in-
serted in the Plymouth records: " We whose names are
here written, being the grand inquest, do present to this
Court John Hazell, Mr. Edward Smith and his wife, Oba-
diah Holmes, Joseph Tory and his wife, and the wife of
James Mann, William Deuell and his wife, of the town of
Rehoboth, for the continuing of a meeting upon the Lord's
Day from house to house, contrary to the order of this
Court, enacted June 12, 1650." It would seem from this
record and the fact that no sentence appears against them,
that the Plymouth authorities still retained a considerable
measure of the Christian moderation of the father of the
Pilgrims and fell very far short of what the Massachusetts
Bay authorities expected and required of them.
The supposition of Baptist writers has been that the
Baptists who for months held regular meetings at Reho-
both under the leadership of Obadiah Holmes did not
constitute a Baptist church. There seems to be no suffi-
cient reason why they should not be regarded as a church.
Like the body of belie\ers who gathered around Roger
Williams at Providence, and who continued for many years
to meet from house to house, they had a very simple organ-
ization. If we call the meeting a church we may date the
organization of the first Baptist church in Massachusetts in
1649. Soon after the presentment of the grand inquest
the Baptists of Rehoboth seem to have remo\'ed to New-
port, where they added greatly to the strength of John
Clarke's church. Thus the day for organized Baptist work
in Massachusetts was postponed.
In his "Brief Narration," published in London, 1646,
W^inslow, writing with a view to vindicating the New Eng-
land authorities from aspersions current in England, in-
Chap, iv.] CHAUNCY'S ANTIPEDOBAPTISM. 133
volving charges of persecution of dissent, etc., gives the
following interesting bit of information: " Furthermore, in
the Government of Plymouth, to our great grief, not only
the pastor of a congregation waiveth the administration of
baptism to infants, but divers of his congregation are fallen
with him ; and yet all the means the civil power hath taken
against him and them is to stir up our elders to give meet-
ing, and see if by godly conference they may be able to
convince and reclaim him, as in mercy once before they
had done, by God's blessing upon their labors. Only at
the foresaid Synod two were ordered to write to him in
the name of the Assembly, and to request his presence at
their next meeting aforesaid, to hold forth his light he
goeth by in waiving the practice of the churches; with
promise, if it be light, to walk by it ; but if it appear other-
wise, then they trust he will return again to the unity of
practice with them." The pastor referred to is commonly
understood to be Charles Chauncy, and the congregation
that of Scituate. Some have supposed that Winslow was
in error in making this statement, as at a later date noth-
ing is said about Chauncy's antipedobaptism, although for
a long time after this date he continued to insist on im-
mersion as the act of baptism. But it seems incredible
that Winslow, who had been governor of the colony (1633
onward) and had all along occupied a prominent position
in the civil rmd religious administration, should have given
publicity to so grave a charge as that involved in the
statement quoted without the most convincing proof of
the accuracy of his facts. His account, moreover, is too
circumstantial to admit of the possibility of mistake. We
are justified, therefore, in concluding that about 1646
Chauncy, afterward president of Harvard College, wai\-ed
the administration of baptism to infants, and in this matter
had the full sympathy of a portion of the Scituate church.
134 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
From the fact that he ceased to give trouble in this mat-
ter, it vvouki seem that he yielded to the pressure brought
to bear upon him by the authorities. His insistence on
immersion as the only proper baptism was no doubt re-
garded by the authorities as more venial, and in this he
was tolerated. But when, as we shall see in the next
chapter, he had an opportunity to succeed Henry Dunster,
who had been removed from the presidency of Harvard
College for his aggressive maintenance of antipedobaptist
views, he was able to abandon or hold in abeyance even
this poor remnant of his Baptist teaching.
The treatment of John Clarke, Obadiah Holmes, and
John Crandall, members of the Newport Baptist church,
by the Massachusetts authorities is one of the most noto-
rious instances of intolerance toward Baptists. In his " 111
News from New England," already referred to, Clarke
gives a full and graphic account of the transaction, includ-
ing the legal warrants, sentences, etc., his own letters to
the authorities, and Holmes's very realistic account of his
sufferings and religious experiences. The accuracy of
Clarke's narrative has never been called in c|uestion, and
is in agreement with the records of the court and other
notices in the writings of the opponents of the Baptists.
Clarke's account is headed: "A Faithful and True Rela-
tion of the Prosecution of Obadiah Holmes, John Crandall,
and John Clarke, merely for Conscience towards God, by
the Principal Members of the Church, or Common-wealth
of the Massachusetts . . . ; whereby is shown their dis-
courteous Entertainment of Strangers, and how that Spirit
by which they are led would order the whole World, if
either brought under them, or should come in unto them :
Drawn forth by the aforesaid John Clarke, not so much to
answer the Importunity of Friends, as to stop the mouths
and slanderous reports of such as are Enemies to the Cross
Chap, iv.] NElVrORT BAPTISTS AT LYXX. 135
of Christ. Let him that leadeth it consider, which Church
is most Hke the Church of Christ (that Prince of Peace,
that meek and gentle Lamb, that came into this World to
save Men's lives, not to destroy them), the Persecuted, or
Persecuting."
It will be possible to give here only a brief resume of
this interesting episode. The three brethren named, as
representatives of the Newport church, had made the toil-
some journey to Lynn, Mass., at the request of the aged
and blind William Witter, whom we have met repeatedly
as a pronounced antipedobaptist. It is likely that Witter's
request was not simply on his own behalf, but on behalf of
a number of his neighbors who had adopted Baptist views
and who were desirous of being baptized and partaking of
the Supper according to the Baptist way. The authorities
suspected, but were not in a position to prove, that bap-
tism had been administered to one or more. This was
neither admitted nor denied by the accused. As they
were quietly worshiping on the Lord's Day at Witter's
house, two miles from town, two constables arrived with
a warrant for the arrest of " certain erroneous persons,
being strangers." They interrupted the service and in-
sisted on carrying the three strangers at once " to the Ale-
house or Ordinary." After dinner one of the constables
insisted on " carrying " them to church. They agreed to
go on the distinct understanding that they would declare
their dissent both by word and gesture, and would hold
no communion with the church. Refusing to bare their
heads, the pastor bade the constable pluck their hats off.
Clarke attempted to explain the ground on which he had
refused to show respect to the worship of the church or
to hold communion therewith, but was refused a hearing.
To the offense of holding an. unlawful meeting was thus
added that of disturbing public worship and denouncing
136 THE BAPTISrS. [Per. i.
the church as not according to " the order of our Lord."
These transactions occurred on Jul)/ 22, 165 i.
A few days later they were tried and sentenced, " with-
out producing either accuser, witness, jury, law of God or
man." " In our examination the Governor upbraided us
with the name of Anabaptists; To whom I answered, I
disown the name, I am neither an Anabaptist, nor a Pedo-
baptist, nor a Catabaptist ; he told me in haste I was all ;
I told him he could not prove us to be either of them ;
he said, yes, you have Re-baptized ; I denied it, saying, 1
have Baptized many, but I never Re-baptized any ; then
said he, you deny the former Baptism, and make all our
worship a nullity ; I tolci him he said it ; moreover I said
unto them (for therefore do I concei\-e I was brought be-
fore them to be a testimony against them), If the Testi-
mony which I hold forth be true, and according to the
mind of God, which I undoubtedly affirm it is, then it
concerns you to look to your standing. The like to this
affirmed the other two."
On the ground of the original charges and the state-
ments made by the accused in the examination, which are
enumerated in the sentence, Clarke was fined " 20 pounds
to be paid, or sufficient sureties that the said sum shall be
paid by the first day of the next Court of Assistants, or
else to be well whipt, and that )-ou .shall remain in prison
till it be paid, or security given in for it." Holmes, doubt-
less on the ground that he was an old ofTender in the
Plymouth colony, was fined " 30 pounds or to be well
whipt ; and the sentence of John Crandall was to pay 5
pounds, or be well whipt."
When Clarke remonstrated against the sentence, for
which no legal authority had been exhibited, Governor
Endicott " stept up, and told us we had denied Infants'
Baptism, and being somewhat transported broke forth,
Chap, iv.] CLARA'E'S DEFENSE. 1 37
and told me I had deserved death, and said, he would not
have such trash brought into their jurisdiction; moreo\'er
he said, you go up and down, and secretly insinuate into
those that are weak, but you cannot maintain it before
our Ministers; you may try, and discourse or dispute with
them, etc."
Availing himself of this somewhat informal and rash
proposal, Clarke wrote a letter to the governor asking for
the opportunit}^ of disputing in public " with freedom, and
without molestation of the ci\il power," " that point . . .
where I doubt not by the strength of Christ to make it
good out of his last Will and Testament, unto which noth-
ing is to be added, nor from which nothing" is to be dimin-
ished." The governor insisted that Clarke had misunder-
stood him in thinking that he promised a public disputa-
tion, and the ministers no doubt heartily disapproved of
giving such an opportunity to so erroneous a person to
disseminate his viev^s. Clarke made full preparation for
the disputation, v\'ith the understanding that it would be
public. The theses which he undertook to defend included
(i) the sole Lordship of Christ in matters cf faith; (2) the
testimony " that baptism, or dipping in water, is one of
the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that a
visible believer, or disciple of Christ Jesus, ... is the
only person that is to be baptized, or dipped with that
visible baptism, or dipping of Jesus Christ in water, and
also that visible person that is to walk in that visible order
of his house, and so to wait for his coming a second time
in the form of a Lord and King, with his glorious King-
dom according to promise"; (3) the liberty and duty of
every believer " to improve that talent his Lord hath given
unto him, and In the congregation may either ask for in-
formation for himself, or, if he can, may speak by way of
prophecy for the edification, exhortation, and comfort of
jo3 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
the whole, and out of the congregation at all times, upon
all occasions and in all places, as far as the jurisdiction of
his Lord extends " ; and (4) a testimony in favor of liberty
of conscience, which, with his arguments in favor of it, has
been set forth in an earlier chapter.
A friend having paid the fine, the authorities insisted
on his leaving without having an opportunity to set forth
his views in a disputation wdth a representative of the
standing order. He protested inefifectually against this
course, and he afterward made this refusal of a public
disputation a ground for pubHshing in England his argu-
ment in full, along with a full account of the whole trans-
action.
Crandall's fine was paid, but Holmes refused on principle
to allow his to be paid, and suffered in martyr fashion the
alternative penalty of whipping. He wrote a detailed ac-
count of his sufferings to John Spilsbury, the first Particu-
lar Baptist minister in England, and William Kiffin, one
of the earliest and most prominent.^ For showing sym-
pathy with Holmes on the occasion of his punishment John
Spur and John Hazell were arrested and fined, with the
alternative penalty of whipping. Their fines were paid
without their consent. Spur testified that in a sermon,
preached immediately before the sentence on Clarke,
Holmes, and Crandall was pronounced, John Cotton " af-
firmed that denying infants' baptism would overthrow all ;
and this was a capital offense; and therefore they were
soul murderers."
1 The letter is embodied in Clarke's work, and has been copied, along
with most of the documents of " 111 News," by Backus, vol. i., pp. 187 seq.
CHAPTER V.
PRESIDENT HENRY DUNSTER AND THE BAPTISTS.^
Henry Dunster ranks along with Roger Williams
and John Clarke as one of the three foremost seventeenth-
century antipedobaptists of America. Born in Lancashire,
England, somewhere about 1610, he was early brought to
an experimental knowledge of the truth. In giving an
account of his early religious experience he said: "The
Lord gave me an attentive ear and heart to understand
preaching. . . . The Lord showed me my sins and recon-
ciliation by Christ, . . . and this word was more sweet to
me than anything else in the world." His highly sensitive
conscience detected grave faults in his early manhood
experience. After he had become a highly developed
Christian, and one of the ablest theologians of his time, in
reviewing his experience as a young man he pronounced
this judgment : " The greatest thing which separated my
soul from God was an inordinate desire of human learn-
ing." His course at the University of Cambridge brought
him into contact with some of the best religious life in
England, and when he was graduated B.A. in 1630 and
M.A. in 1634, his Christian character seems to have been
quite as marked as his learning. Referring to his uni-
versity course he said : " After this I went to Cambridge,
when, growing more careless, I lost my comfort. But I
1 Cf. Chaplin, Backus, Mather, Winthrop, Quincy (" Hist. Harv. Univ."),
Ellis, Hubbard, Palfrey.
139
140 'J'HE BAPTISTS. [Per. 1.
came to Trinity to hear Dr. Preston, by whom I was quick-
ened and revived." Preston was one of the leading" Puri-
tan churchmen of the time. Dunster regarded the teach-
ings of Thomas Goodwin, " in many respects the greatest
divine among them all," as one of the formative influences
in his life. The years intervening between the date of his
first degree and that of his second were probably spent
chiefly in theological studies. Plis well-known proficiency
in oriental languages was one of the acquisitions of this
time. Among his contemporaries were a number of men
who were to attain to world-wide distinction. It will sufifice
to mention the names of Cudworth, Milton, Henry More,
Jeremy Taylor, and John Harvarci. He probably received
ordination as a minister of the Church of England. His
Confession of Faith gives some intimations of the exercises
of mind that led him to abandon the ministry of the Estab-
lished Church and to seek a greater measure of soul free-
dom in New England : " The Lord hath made me bid adieu
to all worldly treasures; and as corruptions in the Church
came, first I began to suspect them, then to hate them."
" So, after ten years' trouble, I came hither [to New Y^Avg-
lanci] ; and the Lord gives me peace to see the order of his
people." His thoroughgoing separatism finds expression
in a letter written to a friend in England: " It's a glorious
church, say you? Whence, I pray you, was it gathered,
out of the Church of Rome, or else yet it stands in it? If
it stand yet in it, then it is one of the dauglUers of the
great whore. . . . No, the Church of England is gathered
out of Rome. Come out of her, my people. . . . But
why should we gather a church out of the English Church ?
I pray you, Sir, where hath Christ constituted a church of
that form ? Where's the national ministry, temple, etc. ?
If you will find this, you haAC the verity, we the vanity.
If congregations be the \isible churches of Christ, we have
Chap, v.] DUA'STER IX XEJV EXGLAXD. 14I
the day in that respect." Equally decided was his antag-
onism to Scottish Presbyterianism. " A reformation of
the Scottish edition," he thought, would leave the English
people " in great distress, inward and outward." This was
written when the Scotch were struggling with might and
main for the civil and religious mastery of Britain, and
were proposing to force Presbyterianism on the entire
population. " National and provincial churches are nulli-
ties ill rcniin natura [in the nature of things] since the
dissolution of that of the Jews." That he was a somewhat
advanced republican is evident from the following: "If
the people and nation be free from monarchy, the ques-
tion is, what form they should set up? And what, I pray
you, but that which is most suitable to the matter? I
say, the form which is most suitable to the matter; which
the nation itself, by their faithful representatives, being
pious and prudent men, can best judge of."
Dunster reached New England toward the latter end of
summer, 1640. He soon purchased a property in Boston,
" then rather a village than a town," yet full of enterprise
and growing rapidly. The entire population of New Eng-
land at this time probably did not reach twenty thousand.
More than two thirds of these were in Massachusetts, and
something over two thousand each in Plymouth, Connect-
icut, and New Haven. In 1643 all the British colonies,
except Rhode Island and Providence, formed a sort of
federation " for mutual help and strength," under the style
of " The United Colonies of New England." Thus Dun-
ster arrived at a time when colonial affairs were already
well advanced, and when, owing to the troubles that were
about to overwhelm England, New England would be
sure to receive a large influx of population, and, what was
possibly of even greater importance in the eyes of the
colonists, immunity from interference on the part of the
142 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
home government. One of the most noteworthy features
of early colonial life was the almost entire absence of law-
yers. The irregularity of court procedures, and the tend-
ency to follow the Mosaic code rather than the English
statutes, may be attributed in part to this fact; though it
must be said, on the other hand, that the deficiency of
lawyers was due to lack of encouragement, and^ that this
was due in turn to the theocratic sentiments of the colo-
nists.
A very large proportion of the early New England colo-
nists were university graduates. By 1640 it is estimated
that there were forty to fifty Cambridge men, and " the
sons of Oxford were not few." There must have been
something highly congenial to the intellectual and devout
Dunster in his New England environment. Scarcely had
he settled in his new home in Boston when he received an
enthusiastic call to the presidency of the college at Cam-
bridge (August, 1640). His qualifications for the position
were recognized as extraordinary, and his coming just
when needed was regarded by his contemporaries as provi-
dential. " Mr. Henry Dunster is now President of this
College," wrote Captain Johnson in his " Wonder-Work-
ing Providence," " fitted from the Lord for the work, and,
by those that have skill that way, reported to be an able
Proficient in both Hebrew, Greek, and Latin languages, an
Orthodox Preacher of the truths of Christ, very powerful
through his blessing to move the affections. But seeing
the Lord hath been pleased to raise up so worthy an in-
strument for their good, he shall not want for encourage-
ment to go on with the work, so far as a rustical rh}-me
shall reach." We will not quote his rhyme, which repeats
the recognition of providential dealing in the matter, and
intimates that already young men were coming from Eng-
land to enjoy the advantages of the new college, so that
Chap, v.] PRESIDENT OF HARVARD. 1 43
New England was repaying England for the borrowed
Dunster. In " New England's First Fruits," published in
London in an early year of Dunster's presidency (1643),
it is said: "Over the College is Master Henry Dunster
placed as President ; a learned, considerable, and indus-
trious man, who hath so trained up his pupils in the
tongues and arts, and so seasoned them with the princi-
ples of Divinity and Christianity, that we have, to our
great comfort, and in truth beyond our hopes, beheld
their progress in learning and godliness also."
The college was only a school when Dunster assumed
the headship in 1640, and for two years past it had been
in charge of an incapable man, who had been dismissed
for unworthy conduct. Dunster was really the first presi-
dent of the college, properly so called, and the fourteen
years of consecrated toil that he gave it brought it into
a position exceeding the hopes of its best friends. Its
resources were, as may be supposed, exceedingly scant}^
its staff was small, its buildings inadecpiate, its library
meager; but with an enthusiastic head like Dunster, ready
to sacrifice means and health for the furtherance of its in-
terests, its students had advantages such as are sometimes
wanting in the most amply endowed and equipped uni-
versities. " He united in himself," says Ouincy, a presi-
tlent and historian of the college, " the character of both
patron and President ; for, poor as he was, he contributed,
at a time of its utmost need, one hundred acres of land to-
ward its support ; besides rendering to it, for a succession
of years, a series of official services, well directed, unwea-
ried, and altogether inestimable."
He united with the Cambridge church, of which Mr.
Shepard was pastor. In giving an account of his religious
experience and doctrinal views he differed in one point
only from his New England brethren, namely, in his pref-
J 44 ^'^^^' BAPTISTS. [I'KU. 1.
erence for immersion as the act of baptism ; yet, as " there
is something for sprinkhng in the Scriptures, he should
not be ofifended when it was used."
He married, in 1641, the widow of a minister who had
died on his way from England. He was a true father to
her five children, who proved to be possessed of more
than average gifts and graces. Two of the daughters
married sons of Governor Winthrop, and it is to this cir-
cumstance that we owe the preservation of important
documentary material on Dunster's life that would other-
wise, in all probability, have been lost. Left a widower
in 1643, he was married again in 1644. Of this marriage
five children were born. Representatives of the family
still remain.
Early in his New p:ngiand career, Dunster began to
manifest a profound interest in the Indians. John Eliot
had his heartiest cooperation. Lechford, Boston's one
lawyer (in his " Plain Dealing," etc.), gives us an early
account of Dunster's views of Indian evangehzation :
" Master Henry Dunster, schoolmaster at Cambridge, de-
ser\es commeiidations above man\- ; he hath the platform
and the way of conversion of the natives indilTerent right,
and much studies the same, wherein }'et he wants not
opposition, as some others also have met with. He will
without doubt prove an instrument of much good in the
country, being a good scholar, and having skill in the
tongues. He will make it good that the way to instruct
the Indians must be in their own language, not English,
and that their language may be perfected." It was prob-
ably at his suggestion that the commissioners of the colo-
nies made provision for the education at Cambridge of
young men " to be helpful in teaching such Indian chil-
dren as .should be taken into the College for that end." It
was on his recommendation that the second charter of the
Chap, v.] ORIENTAL STUDIES. 1 45
college (1650) stated the object of the college to be " the
education of the English and Indian youth of this country
in knowledge and godliness." The building called the
" Indian College," though not erected until years after
the close of his presidency, may have been in part a result
of Dunster's pi-ofound interest in the spiritual welfare of
the aborigines.
The following sentences from a letter to Ravius, a dis-
tinguished European orientalist of the time, will illustrate
Dunster's enthusiasm for oriental studies and his success
in imparting his enthusiasm to his students: "If God's
providence put an opportunity into your hand that you
help us with books of those languages from some able
hands and willing hearts, . . . then should we be very
glad and evermore thankful to you and them who shall
procure us Buxtorf's Concordances and Bible (for the King
of Spain's we have, and the King of France's Bible is more
than we dare hope for) and whatsoever Hebrew, Chaldee,
Syriac, or Arabic authors God's providence shall enlarge
their hands and hearts to procure us. A wonderful im-
pulse unto these studies lies on the spirits of our students,
some of whom can with ease dexterously translate Hebrew
and Chaldee into Greek."
It is not in accordance with the purpose of this chapter
to give a detailed account of the labors of President Dun-
ster in and for Harvard College, or the personal sacrifices
that he made in order that the work might go prosper-
ously on. His multifarious duties, as teacher of many
subjects, as the executive head of the institution, as finan-
cial agent, etc., were familiar to most college presidents
a generation ago, and are the portion of many a noble
worker to-day. But he loved his work and bore his hard-
ships with rare cheerfulness, and thereby commended
himself and his college to all who had the interests of
146 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
the institution and of the cause of Christian education at
heart.
But the time was coming when for conscience' sake he
must lay down the work to which he had given the
strength of his manhood and which was dearer to him
than hfe itself, and when those who had gloried in his
successful work could see no other course open to them
than to dispense with his invaluable services. Some time
between 1648 and 1653 President Dunster had reached
the settled conviction that " visible believers onl}.' should
be baptized." It is probable that for some years he had
entertained doubts as to the propriety of infant baptism
before the conviction of its unscriptural and antiscriptural
character so mastered him that he could no longer keep
silent. The responsibility that attached to the high and
honorable position that he occupied, and the foreseen con-
sequences to himself (which he said was the least impor-
tant consideration) and to his family, which he could not
but shrink from, must have availed with a man of his dis-
cretion to prevent him from rashly committing himself to
views which his brethren were sure to look upon with
amazement and horror. The determination of anything
like the exact date of his change of view is rendered im-
possible by what seem to be conflicting data. Cotton
Mather places the defection of Dunster " presently " after
the settlement of Mitchell as pastor of the Cambridge
church. The occasion of his declaration of his views was
the birth of a child which he withheld from baptism. As
Mitchell became pastor in 1650, and as a child was born
to the Dunsters during that year, it would seem to follow
that Dunster's change of view with reference to the sub-
jects of baptism occurred some time before. But a letter
of Dunster's has been brought to light which bears in-
ternal evidence of having been written about December,
Chap, v.] REJECTS INFANT BAPTISM. 147
1 65 I. In answer to the question of an English corre-
spondent : " What do you do with them that are baptized,
but give no satisfactory testimony of piety when they
come to age? " he answered: " None of their children are
baptized until" one of the parents at least do approve
themselves faithful and be joined to the church. I have
herewith sent you Mr. Davenport's catechism, where the
question is handled, and answered according to practice."
This statement has been supposed (Chaplin, 109) to
prove that Dunster held to infant baptism as late as De-
cember, 165 I. But as he was professedly giving informa-
tion as to the New England practice rather than com-
municating his own individual views, there is no apparent
reason why he should not, though at the time an anti-
pedobaptist, have expressed himself as he did. But it is,
on the whole, more probable that Mather was somewhat
inaccurate in dating Dunster's protest against infant bap-
tism " presently " after the beginning of Mitchell's pastor-
ate, and that the infant withheld from baptism was one
born in 1653. In that case it is probable that the infant
born in 1650 was duly baptized, and it would follow that
Dunster's convictions had not at that time become over-
mastering.
It is highly probable that the persecution of Clarke,
Holmes, and Crandall, in the summer of 165 1, had the
effect of awakening Dunster's conscience on the matter of
infant baptism. He may have become intellectually con-
vinced some time before that the practice is without Script-
ural warrant. The suffering of these men for what he
recognized as the truth may have so impressed the matter
upon his heart and conscience that he could no longer as
an honest man withhold the expression of his views, or
when occasion should arise refrain from acting upon
them. Cotton Mather's account of the declaration of Dun-
148 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
ster against infant baptism, and of the efforts made to win
him from the error of. his ways, is so graphic and full, and
so well illustrates the personal power of Dunster and the
high consideration in which he was held, as well as the
consternation into which his pastor and other leading min-
isters and laymen were thrown by Dunster's adoption of
" Anabaptist " views, that it seems advisable to quote a
portion of it : " Our Mitchell, presently upon his becom-
ing pastor of Cambridge, met with a more than ordinary
trial, in that the good man who was then President of the
College was unaccountably fallen into the briars of Anti-
pedobaptism ; and being briar'd in the scruples of that
persuasion, he not only forbore to present an infant of his
own unto the Baptism of our Lord, but also thought him-
self under some obligation to bear his testimony in some
sermons against the administration of baptism to any in-
fant whatsoever. The brethren of the Church were some-
what vehement and violent in their signifying of their dis-
satisfaction at the obstruction, which the renitencies of
that gentleman threatened with the peaceable practice of
infant baptism, wherein they had hitherto walked ; and
judged it necessary for the vindication of the Church's
name abroad in the country, and for the safety of the
Congregation at home, to desire him that he would cease
preaching as formerly, until he had better satisfied himself
in the point now doubted by him. At these things ex-
treme was the uneasiness of our Mitchell, who told the
brethren that more light and less heat would do better ;
but yet saw the zeal of some against this good man's
error, to push the matter on so far, that being but a
young man, he was likely now to be embarrassed in a
controversy with so considerable a person, and wnth one
who had been his tutor, and a worthy and godly man.
He could afive this account of it: 'Through the Church's
Chap, v.] MITCHELL'S EXPERIENCES. 1 49
being apt to hurry on too fast and too impatiently, I found
myself much oppressed ; especially considering my own
weakness to grapple with these difficulties ; this business
did lie down and rise up, sleep and wake with me. It was
a dismal thing to me, that I should live to see truth or
peace dying or decaying in poor Cambridge.' But while
he was, with a prudence incomparably beyond what might
have been expected from a young man, managing this
thorny business, he saw cause to record a passage which
perhaps will be judged worthy of some remembrance.
'That day,' writes he, (Decemb. 24, 1653,) 'after I came
from him, I had a strange experience ; I found hurrying
and pressing suggestions against Pedobaptism, and in-
jected scruples and thoughts whether the other way might
not be right, and infant baptism an invention of men ; and
whether I might with a good conscience baptise children,
and the like. And these thoughts were darted in with
some impression, and left a strange confusion and sickli-
ness upon my spirit. Yet, methought, it was not hard to
discern, that they were from the EVIL ONE. First,
Because they were rather injected hurrying suggestions,
than any deliberate thoughts, or bringing any light with
them. Secondly, Because they were unseasonable; inter-
rupting me in my study for the Sabbath, and putting my
spirit into a confusion, so as I had much ado to do aught
in my sermon. It was not now a time to study that mat-
ter; but when, in the former part of the week, I had given
myself to that study, the more I studied it, the more clear
and rational light I saw for Pedobaptism. But now these
suggestions hurried me into scruples. But they made me
cry out to God for his help ; and he did afterward calm
and clear up my spirit. I thought the end of them was,
First, to show me the corruption of my mind ; how apt
that was to take in error, even as my heart is to take in
ISO
THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
lust. Secondly, to make me walk in fear and take hold
on Jesus Christ to keep me in the truth; and it was a
check to my former self-confidence, and it made me fear-
ful to go needlessly to Mr. D., for methought I found a
venom and poison in his insinuations and discourses
against Pedobaptism. Thirdly, that I might be mindful of
the aptness in others to be soon shaken in mind, and that
I might warn others thereof, and might know how to
speak to them from experience. And indeed my former
experience of irreligious injection w^as some help to me to
discover the nature of these. I resolved also on Mr.
Hooker's principle, that I would have an argument able
to remove a mountain, before I would recede from, or ap-
pear against, a truth or practice, received among the faith-
ful. After the Sabbath was over, and I had time to reflect
upon the thoughts of those things, those thoughts of doubt
departed, and I returned unto my former frame.' The
troubles thus impending over the Church of Cambridge,
did Mr. Mitchell happily wade through; partly by much
prayer with fasting, in secret, before God, for the good
issue of these things ; partly by getting as much help as
he could from the Neighboring Ministers, to be interposed
in these difficulties; and partly by using much meekness
and wisdom towards the erroneous gentleman; for whom
our Mr. Mitchell continued such an esteem, that although
his removal from the government of the College, and from
his dwelling-place in Cambridge, had been procured by
these differences, yet when he died, he honored him with
an elegy."
The elegiac stanzas, which Mather quotes, though not
meritorious from an artistic point of view, were doubtless
well intended ; but Mitchell's tribute to Dunster's holiness
seems slightly inconsistent with the grounds on which he
persuaded himself that his conscientious .scruples against
CiiAr. v.] rROCEEDIXGS AGAIXST DUXSTER. 15I
infant baptism were injections of the Evil One, and that
there was a venom and poison in Dunster's antipedobap-
tist teachings. Mather was of the opinion " that there
was a special design of Heaven in ordering these trials to
befall our Mitchell, thus in the beginning of his ministry.
He was hereby put upon studying and maintaining the
doctrine of infant baptism. ... In the defense of this
comfortable truth, he not only preached more than half a
score ungainsa3'able sermons, while his own Church was
in some danger by the hydrophobia of anabaptism, which
was come upon the mind of an eminent person in it ;
but also when afterwards the rest of the Churches were
troubled by a strong attempt upon them from the spirit
of anabaptism, there was a public disputation appointed at
Boston two days together, for the clearing of the faith in
this article, tliis worthy man was he w^ho did most ser\-ice
in this disputation." No right-thinking person can fail to
sympathize with the brilliant and amiable young pastor in
his trying situation ; and his determination " to have an
argument able to remove a' mountain" before he should
" recede from, or appear against, a truth or practice, re-
ceived among the faithful," represents the spirit of con-
servatism in all ages and in all denominations.
As might have been expected, the magistrates (assist-
ants) could not long avoid taking cognizance of the fact
that the president of the college had turned antipedobap-
tist. About January, 1654 (N. S.), they addressed a letter
to the ministers, stating that they had been informed " that
Mr. Dunster, President of the College, hath by his practice
and opinions against infant baptism rendered himself of-
fensive to this government," and requesting their coopera-
tion in measures "for the preventing or removing of that
which may tend to the prejudice of the College and scan-
dal to the country." The ministers are requested "so to
152 THE BAPTISTS, [Per. i.
deal ill this business that we may, at our next meeting, be
thoroughly informed how the matter stands with him in
respect of his opinions, and be thereby enabled to under-
stand what may be expected of us." On February 2d
and 3d a conference was held between President Dunster
and nine of the leading ministers of the vicinity, besides
two ruling elders. The president proposed his thesis in
regular scholastic form in Latin : Soli visibilitcr fidcles
sunt baptizcndi (visible believers alone should be baptized).
John Norton, one of the chief disputants, somewhat indis-
creetly admitted the truth of the proposition. " We grant
it, but say infants of believing parents in church state are
visible believers." His proof of this statement was based
upon the supposed parallelism between the Jewish church
and the Christian, which Dunster of course repudiated.
After the argument based on the Abrahamic covenant
and the grounding of infant baptism on the rite of circum-
cision had been threshed out, the president assumed an
aggressive attitude and advanced the following argument :
" All instituted gospel worship hath some express word of
Scripture. But pedobaptism hath none. Ergo.'" Norton
insisted that "it hath a word by manifest consequence."
Dunster demanded to have the word pointed out. It
must be either in the Old Testament or the New. If in
the New, it must be either " in John's baptism, or Christ's,
or his disciples'." " John only baptized penitent believers
confessing their sins. Then not infants. Ergo." When
Norton denied the major premise, Dunster rejoined:
" They that cannot speak are not penitent believers con-
fessing their sins." Norton insisted that " they speak vir-
tually. . . . We all in Adam did virtually speak a word in
the covenant of works." Danforth added: "So may we
be baptized in our parents." Dunster insisted on personal
faith. Norton conceded this point, but held that " an in-
Chap, v.] CONFERENCE ON INFANT BAPTISM. 1 53
fant makes his covenant in a public person." Dunster
claimed that "there is now no public person but Christ
for us to stand in." The argument from i Corinthians
vii. 14 was adduced by Dunster's opponents and explained
in a Baptist way by Dunster. The report of the discus-
sion is evidently a very abbreviated one, little more than
the heads of the arguments being given ; but nothing said
by the representatives of the standing order was calculated
to produce the slightest impression on one who had come
to see the significance and value of believers' baptism and
to realize the evils of infant baptism.
In a letter written at about the time of the conference,
President Dunster thus sets forth his view of the evil of
infant baptism : " That way of worship which forcibly de-
prives the spiritual babes and converts of the church of
the due consolation from Christ and dutiful obligation to
Christ — that is justly suspicious. But the baptism of un-
regenerate infants forcibly deprives the spiritual babes and
converts of the church of their due consolation from Christ,
viz., the remission of sin, etc., and dutiful obligation to
Christ, viz., to believe on him, die with him to sin, and rise
to newness of life."
Three months after the conference, on the basis of the
ministers' report, no doubt, the General Court issued the
following order: "Forasmuch as it greatly concerns the
welfare of this country that the youth thereof be educated
not only in good literature, but sound doctrine, this Court
doth therefore commend it to the serious consideration
and special care of the Overseers of the College, and the
selectmen of the several towns, not to admit or suffer any
such to be continued in the office or place of teaching,
educating, or instruction of youth or child, in the college
or school, that have manifested themselves unsound in the
faith, or scandalous in their lives, and not giving due sat-
154 ^'^^^ BAPTISTS. [Pf.k. I.
isfaction according to the rules of Christ." A few weeks
later (June lO, 1654) Dunster offered his resignation in
the following form : " I here resign up the place wherein
hitherto I have labored with all my heart (blessed be the
Lord who gave it), serving you and yours. And hence-
forth (that you in the interim may be provided) I shall be
willing to do the best I can for some weeks or months to
continue the work, if the Society in the interim fall not to
pieces in our hands; and what advice for the present or
for the future I can give for the public good, in this be-
half, with all readiness of mind I shall do it, and daily, by
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, pray the Lord to help
and counsel us all, in whom I rest." The resignation was
not accepted at once by the court, but it was left with the
overseers of the college to " make provision, in case he
persist in his resolution more than one month (and inform
the Overseers), for some meet person to carry on and end
that work for the present." There was no precipitancy on
the part of the authorities, who were evidently reluctant
to lose Dunster's services, and who no doubt hoped that
he might at least consent to refrain from pressing his
antipedobaptist views.
It is probable that Dunster might have retained his
position indefinitely, even after he had fully set forth his
views in the conference wath the ministers, if he could have
made up his mind to hold them in silence. But he was
too completely mastered by his conception of the evils of
infant baptism to be able, with a good conscience, to re-
frain from protesting against it when occasion offered.
About a month after the action of the court referred to,
the rite of infant baptism was being administered in the
church, and he was moved in his spirit to protest against
it as not according to the institution of Christ, and to an-
swer the arguments that had just been used by the pastor
Chap, v.] A HUMBLE PEl'JTIOX. 1 55
in its favor. This action of his was construed by the au-
thorities as a violation of a law that had been enacted
against disturbances of public worship. He must have
known that this action would result in the severance of
his relations to the college. He was soon informed that
his services were no longer required, and on October 24th
he offered a second and final resignation. The position
was immediately offered to Charles Chauncy, who had
raised considerable commotion by insisting on immersion
as the act of baptism and the celebration of the Supper in
the evening. In the invitation it was signified to him that
it was expected and desired that he would forbear to dis-
seminate or publish these views. His conscience was not
of so -firm a fiber as that of the retiring president. He
was evidently eager for the presidency, and he accepted
it with the conditions imposed. Dunster's petition to the
court, after his final resignation, for an allowance for ex-
traordinary services in order that he might be in a position
to pay his debts, for the privilege of remaining in the house
which he had "with singular industry through great diffi-
culties erected," " until all accounts due to him from the
Corporation be orderly and valuably to him your humble
petitioner satisfied and paid," and for freedom " according
to his education and abilities, without all impeachment,
molestation, or discountenance from the authority of this
colony," while " walking piously and peaceably," to " seek
further and vigorously prosecute the spiritual or temporal
weal of the inhabitants thereof in preaching the Gospel of
Christ, teaching or training up of youth, or in any other
laudable or liberal calling as God shall chalk out his way,
and when, and where, and in what manner he shall find
acceptance," did not receive favorable consideration.
To have allowed extraordinary compensation to a man
who, by his own act, had thrown the college affairs into a
156 'I'lIE BAPTISTS. [Pek. i.
state of confusion and greatly embarrassed the autliorities,
especially when funds were represented by a negative
rather than by a positive quantity, wouUl have been an
almost, unexampled act of generosity. These extraordi-
nary services had been fully recognized by the overseers,
and had things gone on prosperously this recognition
would doubtless have assumed some tangible form ; but
circumstances had completely changed. To grant the
privilege of remaining in the house for an indefinite period
would make it to his interest to delay a final settlement of
the college accounts, and besides would be embarrassing
to his successor. That he should be allowed to preach or
teach in the colony would have been contrary to the rec-
ognized principles of the theocracy which occasioned his
removal from the position that he had so ably filled.
" What other laudable or liberal calling, besides preaching
and education of youth, is intended, Mr. Dunster is to ex-
plain himself."
The hardship involved in Dunster's position it is difficult
for us to realize. Without the sanction of the authorities
there was nothing to which he could turn his hand for the
maintenance of his family, except, perhaps, farming or mer-
chandise, for neither of which he had taste or training. It
is probable that his wife did not fully sympathize with him
in the position he had taken. This may be inferred from
the fact that his descendants in the generation following
seem all to have been associated with pedobaptist churches.
So reluctant was he to leave Cambridge at once that, six
days after the unfavorable reply of the court to his peti-
tion, he addressed to the same body a series of considera-
tions, wherein he pointed out the extreme inconvenience
and hardship of changing his residence at that time of year
and on so short notice, and the importance of his remain-
ing to settle up the accounts of the college and to give to
CiiAP. v.] PROSECUTION, OR PERSECUTION? 1 57
his successor the information necessary for the successful
performance of some of his duties. This lime the court
yielded, and he was permitted to remain till the following
March (1655).
His trial for the disturbing of public worship did not
take place till April. There is no doubt but that he had
rendered himself liable to prosecution for persisting in dis-
turbing the service ; but that this matter should have been
pressed at such a time, after he had suffered so greatly in
being deprived of his position in the college, savors of petty
persecution. Considering what the theocracy was, the re-
lation of the college to the theocracy, and the profound
dread of Anabaptism, the authorities could hardly have
been expected to retain the services of a man who had
assumed a hostile attitude towards what was looked upon
as a fundamental doctrine. In fact, it must be admitted
that the court showed considerable forbearance in not
dismissing him summarily when his views had been fully
ascertained ; but that he should have been subjected to
the indignity of a criminal process, and especially at such
a time, is less excusable.
Discreditable, also, were the failure of the court to pro-
vide for the prompt payment of the forty pounds which
the overseers found to be strictly due him on account, and
its entire ignoring of their recommendation that one hun-
dred pounds be allowed him for extraordinary services.
Before leaving the vicinity of Boston we find Dunster
intimately associated with Thomas Gould, of Charlestown,
whom we shall meet again as one of the founders of the
First Baptist Church, Boston, and one of the principal suf-
ferers for the faith in connection with this cause.
Dunster removed to Scituate, in the Plymouth colony,
whence Chauncy had been called to be his successor at
Cambridge. Whether Chauncy is to be credited with such
1^8 THE BAPTISTS. [ri:K. i.
a degree of generosity as would ha\-e led him to run
the risk of compromising himself with the Massachusetts
authorities by using his influence in behalf of Dunster's
settlement at Scituate, wo do not know. The Plymouth
colony, as we have seen, was far in advance of the Massa-
chusetts Bay colony in the matter of toleration. Scituate
probably excelled any other township of Plymouth in this
respect. John Lathrop, who had been pastor of the South-
wark (London) church founded by Henry Jacob when the
first division occurred (1633), that resulted in the formation,
under John Spilsbury's leadership, of the first Particular
Baptist church in P^ngiand, had come to New England tlie
f«jllowing year with a portion of his Independent congre-
gation, and had settled at Scituate. These were already
familiar with Baptist doctrine and were not likely to be
shocked by the presentation of antipedobaptist views.
Probably few other churches in New PLngland would have
so far yielded to Chauncy in the matter of immersion and
the evening celebration of the Supper. It is altogether
likely that Dunster found in the Scituate church a number
of believers who thoroughly sympathized with his antipe-
dobaptist views. Our information with respect to his life
and labors at Scituate during the four remaining years of
his career is exceedingly meager. Deane (in his " History
of Scituate ") finds " notices of him the same autumn em-
ployed in the ministry, in which he continued nearly five
years." The probability seems to be against the supposi-
tion that he was regularly installed as pastor of the church.
He had here the active sympathy and support of such
noble men as Captain (afterward General) James Cud-
worth, who, because he dared to entertain some Quakers
and to oppose their persecution, lost his position (1657)
as a member of the court. Cudworth's sentiments in re-
-spect to this matter are worth quoting: "The antichristian
Chap, v.] INVITED TO DUBLIN. 1 59
persecuting spirit is very active, and that in the powers of
this world. He that will not lash, persecute, and punish
men that differ in matters of religion, must not sit on the
bench, nor sustain any office in the Commonwealth. Last
election, Mr. Hatherly and myself were left off the bench,
and myself discharged of my captainship, because I had
entertained some of the Quakers at my house, thereby
that I might be the better acquainted with their principles.
I thought it better to do so than with the blind world
to censure, condemn, rail at, and re\ile them, when they
neither saw their persons nor knew any of their principles.
But the Quakers and I cannot close in divers things, and
so I signified to the Court ; but told them withal, that as
I was no Quaker, so I would be no persecutor."
In a letter written about a year before Dunster's death,
Cudworth bears this testimony to his work and worth :
" Through mercy we have yet among us the worthy Mr.
Dunster, whom the Lord hath made boldly to bear testi-
mony against the spirit of persecution." According to
Morton (" Memorials," p. 283), Dunster" was useful to op-
pose their [the Quakers'] abominable opinions, and in de-
fending the truth against them." \\\ strongly opposing
the opinions of the Quakers he was at one with Roger
Williams, but we may be sure that neither of these great
and good men countenanced the persecution of these re-
ligious zealots.
An incident in Dunster's later career should not be
omitted. In 1656, the year after his settlement at Scitu-
ate, he received the following letter from Edward Roberts,
a Welsh Baptist in government employ at Dublin : " Hon-
ored Friend: I am wholly a stranger to you further than
as to report which hath spread itself to the rejoicing of
many that fear the Lord, and hearing that your portion
hath been to suffer in some measure for the Cross of
l6o ^'/^^ BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
Christ, myself and some other that truly love you on the
ground aforesaid made it our request to the truly virtuous
Lord Deputy [Henry Cromwell, son of Oliver] to provide
for you in this land, who readily embraced the same, and
ordered fifty pounds for the bringing over yourself and
family, as you may see by a copy of his Lordship's and
the Council's enclosed, with directions for me to send to
you, which moneys I have sent. . . . You need not fear
accommodations here, though I hope that will not be )'Our
chief motive, but rather honor of the Lord and his great
name. You may through mercy ha\e free liberty of your
conscience ; and opportunity of associating with saints and
free publishing the Gospel of Truth, which [is] greatly
wanted amongst us, there being but few able and painful
men who make the service of God their sake."
An earnest entreaty to confer not with flesh and blood,
but " to be guided by the call of God," follows. The in-
vitation was not accepted. For better or for worse he
seems to have joined himself to New England. Doubtless
he had business interests of his own and of his step-children
that would have made it difficult for him to leave the
country of his adoption. He may also have foreseen that
the government with whose cooperation he was invited to
L'eland was lacking in stability. It may be that his de-
clining health made him reluctant to enter upon an under-
taking in w^hich much would be expected of him. Again,
it may be that his wife withheld the encouragement that
would have been necessary to make the change a happy one.
On the same grounds we may perhaps account for the
fact that he was content to be to the end of his life a pro-
nounced antipedobaptist in a pedobaptist church. Out-
side of Providence and Rhode Island there was no Baptist
church in America. It is probable that up to the time of
his death it would have been impossible to carry on Bap-
CiiAi>. v.] DCXSTER'S DEATH AXB WILL. l6l
tist work even in the Plymouth colony. No doubt he
made up his mind that, having borne his testimony and
suffered his martyrdom on behalf of believers' baptism
and regenerate church-membership, and finding the door
absolutely closed in the colony that he had chosen as his
home against the carrying on of distinctively Baptist work,
his duty in respect to these doctrines would be fulfilled
by a continuance of his protest and by engaging in such
Christian work as was open to him. He was sowing the
seed. The harvest would appear by and by.
His death occurred at Scituate, February 27, 1659. In
his will, drawn up the year before, when disease had al-
ready warned him that the end was near, he made provis-
ion for his burial at Cambridge. His heart had been there
during his years of absence ; there he wished his mortal
remains to abide. President Chauncy and Mr. Mitchell,
" his reverend and trusty friends and brethren," he ap-
pointed to appraise his library, and to each he left a num-
ber of volumes. Doubtless at his funeral his brethren who
had felt obliged, in the interests of the theocracy, to coop-
erate in securing his removal from the work in which his
heart was so deeply enlisted, recalled with sadness the
pathetic words contained in his statement of considerations
why he should be allowed to remain in the president's
residence during the winter after his resignation: "The
whole transaction of this business is such which in process
of time, when all things come to mature consideration, may
very probably create grief on all sides ; yours subsequent,
as mine antecedent. I am not the man you take me to be."
Mitchell's elegiac stanzas have been already referred to.
Harvard University, though she has departed greatly from
the position of the Puritans and from that of Dunster, re-
gards his memory as one of her chiefest treasures, and her
historians have vied with each other in doing him honor.
CHAPTER VI.
BAPTIST CHURCHES IN MASSACHUSETTS TO 1740.^
If, with most writers, we leave out of consideration the
Baptist meetings held by Obadiah Holmes and his fellow-
believers at Rehoboth in 1649, then the first Baptist church
within the territory now covered by Massachusetts was
also the first Baptist church of Wales. The leader of the
band of Welsh Baptists who, in 1663, took refuge in New
England from persecutions under Charles H. (1662 on-
ward) was John Myles. That they should have made
their way to the Plymouth colony was natural in view of
the well-known tolerant disposition of its authorities. Re-
hoboth, where they settled, had already, as we have seen,
witnessed the holding of Baptist meetings. Like many of
the ministers who sought in New England a refuge from
the persecutions of the British authorities, Myles had be-
hind him a long career of distinguished usefulness. When
Obadiah Holmes was gathering the Baptist comxrts of
Rehoboth for worship, Myles and an associate, Thomas
Proud by name, were planting the Baptist banner at
Ilston, Glamorganshire, Wales. Of the early life of Myles
we have only meager information. Born at Newton, in
Herefordshire, about 162 1, we find him a student in the
University of Oxford in 1636. He sprang from a region
whose soil had been enriched by the blood of martyrs in
1 Cf. Backus, Ellis, Mather, Winthrop, Morton, Hutchinson, Ilubb.ird,
Felt, Russell.
162
Chap, vi.] FIKST BAPTIST CHURCH OF WALES. 163
medieval and later times. It had been the stronghold of
Lollardism in the fourteenth century, and it gloried in
being the birthplace or the scene of the labors of such
evangelical heroes and martyrs as Bradwardine, Sir John
Oldcastle (Lord Cobham), and Walter Brute, in the medi-
eval time, and of John Penry in the age of Ehzabeth.
The destitution of gospel privileges in Wales about 1641
was truly appalling. Evangelical preachers had been
hunted out by the Laudian inquisition, and the great ma-
jority of the ministers of the established church were ig-
norant and corrupt. According to Vavasour Powell, the
great Baptist evangelist of Wales, " A petition was sent to
the King and Parliament about 1641, setting forth humbly
and truly, by many responsible persons, that after minutely
searching scarcely were there found as many conscientious,
settled preachers in Wales as there were counties in it."
Myles began his ministry about 1645, under what circum-
stances or with what views of truth we are not informed.
According to the records of the Baptist church at Ilston,
which Myles and his brethren brought with them to New
England, the organization took place April i, 1649. The
heading of the first page is said to run : " Names of the
brethren and sisters who were added to this church from
the first day of the second month [April, N. S.] in 1649 to
the 16th day of the same month in 1650." The name
of John Myles heads the list, and is followed by that of
Thomas Proud. It is probable that Myles and Proud had
been baptized shortly before the inauguration of their
work at Ilston into the fellowship of a London Baptist
church (now meeting in the Glass House, Broad Street),
whither they had apparently gone for this purpose. The
London church, it is related, regarded the coming of these
brethren and their proposal to enter upon evangelistic
work in Wales as a direct answer to their recent prayers
164 '^'^i^ BATTISTS. [Pek. i.
for the evangelization of that region. A letter written by
the pastor of the London church, dated Barnstable, May
9, 1650, is of interest in this connection: "Dear Brother
Myles: Having heard lately, by some of your fellow-
countrymen, and also by some of the brethren in London,
of your seeking the way of the Lord in the participation
of the ordinances of the Gospel in accordance with the
proper mode of the Gospel, we could not less than bless
the Father in your behalf, that you have fully submitted
to the v^^ay of truth. Give my most fervent love to all the
church." The London church long continued to regard
the evangelistic work of Myles and Proud as their own,
and were always ready to give the advice that the Welsh
evangelists did not fail to ask of their more experienced
brethren. It is probable that the e\-angelists received
material assistance from the same source. \\\ the Ilston
church book already referred to appears " A brief report
of some of the chief providences of our Father towards us,
his poor and despised people, who have by great grace
been baptized into the name of Jesus Christ and to the
profession of the Gospel, and have united in fellowship
with one another in this church." The following record
will be of interest: "We cannot do less than admire the
unsearchable wisdom, power, and love of God in bringing
about his own purposes, which transcend the power and
understanding of the wisest of men. Thus to the glory of
his great name he dealt, for when there was no company
or society of prophets setting forth and preaching the
doctrines of worship and order and Gospel discipline, ac-
cording to primitive institution, that we ever heard of
since the time of the apostasy, it pleased God to choose
this dark corner, to put his name in it, and to give us
poor, unworthy creatures the honor of being the first in
all these parts to observe the glorious ordinance of bap-
Chap, vi.] MYLES A TESTER. 1 65
tism, and gather together the first church of baptized be-
Hevers."
That the zealous laborers had much to discourage them
in the early stages of the movement, and that they yet
had a strong and abiding faith, is evident from the follow-
ing extract from the records already quoted: "It pleased
the Lord to give us some signs of his purpose to gather
to himself a people to walk in fellowship with them, his
servants ; but in order that he might be seen more visible
in his work, he began with two women, who were baptized
about the beginning of the 8th month [October], 1649;
and thus teaching us not to despise the day of small
things, nor to judge the work of God according to appear-
ance or human probability. For when these feeble creat-
ures were baptized, there was not a strong probability
that one more would be added to us ; yet the Lord went
on and called four more women before one man offered
himself." But tlie community was ripe for such gospel
efforts, and during the year following forty-six were bap-
tized into the fellowship of the little band of believers. \\\
eleven years the number of members had increased to two
hundred and sixty-three. The labors of Myles and his
associates extended over a considerable territory, and
meetings must be held in several localities in order to
accommodate the people. The entire church, howexer,
were expected to meet together at Ilston on the first day of
every three weeks for the breaking of bread. A number
of other preachers were soon raised up in connection with
the labors of Myles and Proud, and by 165 i there were
four churches in fellowship.
The name of Myles appears as one of the testers (or
triers) in connection with a parliameiitary " Act for the
Better Propagation of the Gospel in Wales," signed Feb-
ruary 22, 1649. The aim of the act was the rooting out
1 66 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
cf the corrupt and worthless ministers who abounded and
the supplying of the principality with worthy ministers.
In a few years the religious aspect of Wales had become
completely changed owing to the successful working of
this measure, which from a Baptist point of view was by
no means an ideal arrangement, but which, on the as-
sumption that the church endowments and rates were to
be maintained and administered under the direction of
the state, was a practical necessity. Myles was far from
being alone among Baptist ministers in consenting to act
in such capacity. Tombes, Jessey, and Dyke were among
Cromwell's triers for England, and the first two at least
ministered to beneficed churches.
It should be observed that Myles and Proud were by
no means the first Baptists in Wales. Vavasour Powell
and Cradock had been for some years evangelizing in
Wales, but as they were open communionists the results
of their work had appeared in mixed rather than in Baptist
churches. Baptist principles flourished in Wales, and
Welsh Baptists have long been noted for their consistency
and devotion.
The Act of Uniformity of 1662 drove Myles from his
pastorate. He is numbered among the two thousand
ejected ministers, and as he had acted under the Crom-
wellian government in the capacity of trier for Wales, so
he seems to have received support from the parish reve-
nues that had earlier been enjoyed by the corrupt minister
of the parish. We would not be understood to justify his
acquiescence in this state-church arrangement; but it is
desirable that we should understand the real relations of
things in order that we may appreciate the situation of
Myles and a number of other excellent Baptist brethren of
that time. The case seems to have been something like
this: the Cromwellian government had not confiscated the
Chap, vi.] MYLES HOLDS A BENEFICE. 1 67
church endowments or abohshed the old methods of rais-
ing church revenues ; the great majority of the residents
in the parish where he labored desired his services in the
ministry ; his ministry was acceptable to the state-church
authorities; as things were, the members of the parish
must contribute through the legal channels, and the in-
come from endowments, if there were any, must pass
through the hands of the government authorities. Myles
and his Baptist parishioners might have said, and perhaps
ought to have said, " No, we will have absolutely nothing
to do with a state-church arrangement; we will pay our
church rates if we must ; we will let the government make
what use it pleases of these and of the income of the par-
ish endowments ; we will not submit to having the qualifi-
cations of our pastor passed upon by the triers appointed
by the government — much less shall our pastor counte-
nance the continuance of the state-church system by sit-
ting on the Board of Triers ; besides paying under protest
what the state may exact we will, as pastor and people,
pursue the New Testament plan of direct dependence on
the church on the one hand, and voluntary support of the
gospel ministry on the other." This would have been
heroic, but the supreme importance of the voluntary sys-
tem and the deadly evils of all state-churchism seem not
to have impressed men like Myles, Tombes, Dyke, and
Jessey, as they impressed many Baptists in the seventeenth
century and as they have impressed nearly all Baptists
from that time onward.
With a company of his Welsh brethren, Myles made
his way to Rehoboth, as has already been stated, and was
not slow in instituting Baptist worship and ordinances in
his new home. With him were associated, and joined by
solemn covenant, James Brown, Nicholas Tanner, Joseph
Carpenter, John Butterworth, Eldad Kingsley, and Benja-
1 68 THE BAFTISl'S. [Pkr. i.
mill Alby. It does not appear that any coercive measures
were undertaken against the new organization until July,
1667, when Myles and Brown were arraigned before the
court " for their breach of order in setting up of a public
meeting without the knowledge and approbation of the
Court, to the disturbance of the peace of the place," and
" are fined each of them five pounds, and Mr. Tanner the
sum of one pound, and we judge that their continuance at
Rehoboth, being very prejudicial to the peace of that
church and that town, may not be allowed; and do there-
fore order all persons concerned therein wholly to desist
from the said meeting in that place or township, within
this month. Yet in case they shall remove their meeting
unto some other place, where they may not prejudice any
other church, and shall gi\'e us aiiy reasonable satisfaction
respecting their principles, we do not know but they may
be permitted b}- this government so to do."
It is evident that the Baptist work was being pushed
with some \-igor and had become a matter of alarm to the
pastor of the church of the standing order. It is further
evident that the authoiities had ceased to regard antipedo-
baptism with the horror of the earlier time. As compared
with the attitude of the Massachusetts Bay authorities
before and after, the last sentence of this pronouncement
is toleration itself. Massachusetts would have imprisoned
and banished Myles and his associates. Plymouth simply
requires them to remove to a convenient distance from
the church of the standing order, so as not to disturb the
peace of church and town. In October of the same year
the court set apart for them a large bod)- of land near the
Rhode Island frontier, which they named Swansea, in com-
memoration of Swansea, near Ilston, their Welsh home.
The land- grant was made in the names of Captain Willet
and Mr. Paine, who were pedobaptists, and three of the
Chap, vi.] SIWIXSEA EXCLi'SIVEXESS. 1 69
Baptist brethren. Captain Willet proposed to the other
members of the new township: " i. That no erroneous
person be admitted into the township either as an inhabit-
ant or sojourner. 2. That no man of an evil behavior or
contentious person, etc., be admitted. 3. That none may
be admitted that may become a charge to the place." It
is somewhat humiliating to Baptists to find the church
under Myles consenting to these proposals, with certain
explications. As it is the aim of this history to relate the
facts precisely as they occurred, it may be worth while to
quote the terms in which they accepted the proposal to
exclude all erroneous persons : " That the first proposal
relating to the non-admission of erroneous persons may be
only understood under the following explications, viz. : (i)
of such as hold damnable heresies, inconsistent with the
faith of the gospel ; as, to deny the Trinity, or any per-
son therein; the deity or sinless humanity of Christ, or the
union of both natures in him, or his full satisfaction to the
divine justice of all his elect, by his active or passive obe-
dience, or his resurrection, ascension into heaven, inter-
cession, or his second coming personally to judgment; or
else to deny the truth or divine authority of the Script-
ures, or the resurrection of the dead, or to maintain any
merit of works, consubstantiation, transubstantiation, giv-
ing divine adoration to 'any creature, or any other anti-
christian doctrine directly opposing the priestly, prophet-
ical, or kingly offices of Christ, or any part thereof; (2) or
such as hold such opinions as are inconsistent with the
well-being of the place, as to deny the magistrate's power
to punish evil-doers as well as to encourage those that do
well, or to deny the first day of the week to be observed
by divine institution as the Lord's Day or Christian Sab-
bath, or to deny the giving of honor to whom honor is
due, or to oppose those civil respects that are usually per-
I 70 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
formed according to the laudable customs of our nation
each to other, as bowing the knee or body, etc., or else to
deny the office, use, or authority of the ministry or a com-
fortable maintenance to be due to them from such as par-
take of their teachings, or to speak reproachfully of any
of the churches of Christ in the country, or of any such
other churches as are of the same common faith with us
or them. We desire that it be also understood and de-
clared that this is not understood of any holding any opin-
ion different from others in any disputable point, yet in
controversy among the godly learned, the belief thereof
not being essentially necessary to salvation ; such as pedo-
baptism, antipedobaptism, church discipline, or the like;
but that the minister or ministers of the said town may
take their liberty to baptize infants or grown persons as
the Lord shall persuade their consciences, and so also the
inhabitants take their liberty to bring their children to
baptism or to forbear."
Here we see a result of Myles's training in connection
with the state-church system of the Commonwealth and
the Protectorate. He had failed to grasp the great prin-
ciple of absolute liberty of conscience which the mass
of antipedobaptists from the Reformation time onward
had consistently advocated and practiced. If this docu-
ment mean anything, it means that Myles and his Baptist
brethren would have cooperated with the pedobaptist in-
habitants of the township of Swansea in excluding, by
forcible means if necessary, Roman Catholics, Lutherans,
Anglicans, Arminians, Socinians of all classes, Sabbata-
rians, and Quakers. Roger Williams would have been
almost as imacceptable in Swansea as he had been thirty
years before to the Massachusetts Bay authorities, and
few, if any, of the Baptists we have encountered in New
Enorland would ha\e been able to endure the test. There
Chap. VI.] A NEW PASTOR WANTED. 171
is fortunately no case on record in which the vicious prin-
ciple of this document was practically applied. Doubtless
contact with the disciples of Roger Williams and John
Clarke in the neighboring churches of Providence and
Newport taught these anomalous Baptists the way of the
Lord more perfectly. It may be that anxiety to escape
persecution led them to express themselves more strongly
on these matters than their own best judgment would
have approved or than they would have been willing to
carry out in practice. But this possible explanation is as
little to their credit as their failure to apprehend a funda-
mental principle of the denomination.
Yet, notwithstanding the defect mentioned, the Swan-
sea church w^as greatly prospered, the entire community
remaining Baptist until the latter part of the eighteenth
century. (Backus, ii., 433.) By the middle of 1681 Myles
had grown " very aged and feeble," and was " often in-
capable of his ministerial work." The brethren wrote an
earnest plea to the Baptist ministers of London for " an
able man to come over," for whom they " conceive there
is a prospect of good encouragement, ... in that there
seems to be an apparent and general apostasy among the
churches who have professed themselves Congregational
in this land; whereby many have their eyes opened, by
seeing the declension and confusion that is among them."
There is reason to suspect that it was not wholly the feeble-
ness of the pastor that led to this application. The pastor
was old and feeble, certainly, but it is probable that some
feeling had arisen between pastor and people. \\\ 1682 he
preached for a while in Boston, and a report gained cur-
rency that was cast into the teeth of Boston brethren by
the authorities in this form : " Behold your great Doctor,
Mr. Myles of Swanzey, for he now leaves his profession
and is come away, and will not teach his people any more,
Ijo THE BAP'J'/S'IS. [I'EK. I.
because he is like to perish for want, and his gathered
church and people will not help him." The effort to se-
cure a pastor in England proved a failure, and no doubt
the differences between the old pastor and his flock were
adjusted. He died as pastor of the church February 3,
1683, and his memory remains fragrant in the community
where his labors were so fruitful. He was succeeded after
a considerable interval by Samuel Luther, who had been
for some time a member of the church and had represented
Swansea in the colonial legislature. He was ordained to
the pastorate July 22, 1685, elders from the Boston church
assisting. He remained pastor till his death, in i/i/- The
next pastor was Ephraim Wheaton, who for thirteen years
had assisted Luther in his ministerial labors. The church
greatly prospered under Wheaton's ministry. During the
five years beginning with 171S, fifty were received into
the church, and before his death, in 1734, the membership
had risen to two hundred. His successor, Samuel Max-
well, was noted for his piety and zeal, but having adopted
Sabbatarian view\s, and being thought unsteady in other
points of Baptist doctrine, he was dismissed from the church
in 1739. The next pastor was popular, but proved un-
worthy, and the next was so unacceptable that the church
greatly declined, many members withdrawing to other
churches which had been organized in the neighborhood.
But a bright future was before the church in the period
to follow, in connection with the Great Awakening.
The new charter, under William and Mary, granted in
1691, provided for "liberty of conscience in the worship
of God to all Christians, except Papists." " Liberty of
conscience " was interpreted by the Massachusetts author-
ities in such a way as to allow of the taxation of dissenters
for the support of ministers of the standing order.
In 1692 an act was passed for the support of ministers.
CUAV. \i.J JCy FOR SLPFORT OF MJXISTERS. I 73
As revised in 1693, it provided " that each respective gath-
ered church, in any town or place within this Province,
that at any time shall be in want of a minister, such church
shall have the power, according to the directions given in
the Word of God, to choose their own minister" ; but be-
fore the settlement could be consummated the concurrence
of a majority of voters in town affairs must be secured.
After such concurrence, " all the inhabitants and ratable
estates lying within such town, or part of a town, or place
limited by law for upholding the public worship of God,
shall be obliged to pay in proportion towards the minister's
settlement and support." Boston was excepted from the
operation of this law, but otherwise its provisions were
made compulsory by a requirement that the county courts
should summon and heavily fine the selectmen or other
officers of any town failing to comply. It was not long
before the Bristol Court issued a warrant requiring the
town of Swansea to choose a minister accordirig to law.
As the Baptist church was the only church in the town,
and as a large majority of the inhabitants were Baptist in
sentiment, there was no difficulty in securing for the pastor
the C(Micurrence of a majority of the voters of the town.
It is humiliating to find that after a short delay the requi-
sition was complied with, and the report was sent to the
court that Samuel Luther had been chosen pastor accord-
ing to law\ Whether the church allowed a general assess-
ment for the support of its pastor to be carried out we are
not informed. As in the laying out of the township, which
had been publicly granted to a company the majority of
whom were Baptists, certain lots had been set apart for the
support of public worship, it may be that a general assess-
ment was not required.
The law referred to was in force until 1728, when an
act was passed " to exempt persons commonly called Ana-
1 74 THE BAPTISTS. [Pkk. i.
baptists, and those called Quakers, . . . from being taxed
for and towards the support of " ministers. This act at
first exempted from poll-taxes only, and it applied only
to persons living within five miles of their meeting-place.
In 1729 it was modified to include estate-taxes. The act
was to be valid for five years only. At the expiration of
this term its provisions were renewed, with the require-
ment that assessors should make lists of Anabaptists in
each community and that these lists should be subject to in-
spection and to correction on the presentation of certificates
signed by "two principal members of that persuasion."
As no penalty was affixed to neglect of compliance with
the law on the part of the assessors. Baptists were put to
much inconvenience, annoyance, and expense in securing
the exemption provided for.
The history of the First Baptist Church of Boston next
demands attention. It is certain that there \\'ere a number
of Baptists in the neighborhood of Boston at an early date.
We have seen that in 1655 Thomas Gould, of Charlestown,
had fellowship with President Dunster in antipedobaptism,
and that meetings were already held at the house of the
former in this interest. Such meetings were doubtless
kept up with a considerable degree of regularity from that
time until 1665, when (May 28) Thomas Gould, Thomas
Osburne, Edward Drinker, and John George were baptized,
and united with Richard Goodall, William Turner, Robert
Lambert, Mary Goodall, and Mary Newel, who had been
previously baptized, most or all of them in England, " in a
solemn covenant, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to
walk in fellowship and communion together, in the prac-
tice of all the holy appointments of Christ, which he had
or should further make known to them." The Goodalls
had been members of William Kiffin's church in London,
Lambert and Turner of Mr. Stead's church in Dartmouth:
Chai'. \i.] first baptist CHURCH OF BOSTOX. \ 75
Gould and Osburne withdrew from the church of the stand-
ing order in Charlestown. According to a record made
at the time by the Roxbury church and pubHshed in an
almanac, " the Anabaptists gathered themselves into a
church, prophesied one by one, and some one among them
administered the Lord's Supper after he was regularly ex-
communicated by the church at Charlestown ; they also
set up a lecture at Drinker's house once a fortnight."
Much was made of the fact that the new organization
admitted as members and appointed to official positions
those who had been excommunicated by the churches of
the standing order. The " moral scandals " of which Cot-
ton Mather speaks as the ground for their excommunica-
tion were of no more serious nature than somewhat demon-
strative protestations against the administration of infant
baptism, and absenting themselves from the meetings of
the church. It seems somewhat gratuitous to charge them
with schismatic organization of a new church, and to seek
to bring the schismatic organization into further contempt
by making the incipient stages of the schism a ground for
charges of immoral conduct. The officers of the Charles-
town church certainly deserve credit for the patience and
perseverance with which they labored with Gould. Ac-
cording to Wlllard, a contemporary opponent of the new
church (Backus, i., 289): "The church in much tender-
ness waited upon him, and proceeded not to excommuni-
cation, but tried with admonition upon admonition, and
that by the space of seven or eight years ; nor was he
excommunicated till (ha\-ing left his own) he joined to
another society, v/ithout the church's leave, or once asking
it; and now^ also being twice sent for by the church, he
disclaimed their authority over him. . . . He did (while
under admonition) neglect public worship, and gather a
priv^ate meeting on the Sabbath to his house. He did
I 76 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
wickedly slight the admonition of the church, declaring
that they had, by it, discharged him of all relation to them."
Substantially the same is the charge against Osburne.
The occasion of Gould's first protest against infant bap-
tism was the birth of a child in 1655. His own account
of the matter is of interest : " It having been a long time
a scruple to me about infant baptism, God was pleased at
last to make it clear to me, by the rule of the gospel, that
children were not capable nor fit subjects for such an ordi-
nance, because Christ gave this commission to his apostles,
first to preach to make them disciples, and then to baptize
them, which infants were not capable of; so that I durst
not bring fordi my child to be partaker of it." The de-
tails of the ecclesiastical processes by which it was sought
to win this Anabaptist heretic from the error of his way,
as reported by Gould himself, are picturesque and in some
cases piquant; but nothing new was added to the argu-
ments for and against the baptism of infants. Repeated
conferences led to no change of sentiment on either side.
What followed these conferences may be best given in
Gould's own language : " Now after this, considering with
myself what the Lord would have me to do ; not likely to
join with any of the churches of New England any more,
and so to be without the ordinances of Christ ; in the mean
time God sent out of Old England some who were Bap-
tists ; we, consulting together what to do, sought the Lord
to direct us, and taking counsel of other friends who dwelt
among us, who were able and godly, they gave us counsel
to congregate ourselves together; and so we did, being
nine of us, to walk in the order of the gospel according to
the rule of Christ, yet knowing that it was a breach of the
law of this country ; that we had not the approbation of
magistrates and ministers, for that we suffered the penalty
of that law, when we were called before them."
Chap. VI.] CONFESSIOX OF FAITH. 1 7/
Shortly after the oroanization of the new church, Gould
was solemnly summoned to appear before the church to
which he had formerly belonged on the following Lord's
Day. He repudiated any right of the church to demand
his presence, and declined to obey the summons. At the
entreaty of some of his friends, who feared that some godly
members of the church might, in case of his failure to state
the grounds of his action in public assembly, ignorantly
join in his excommunication and thus commit sin, he agreed
to be present on a subsequent Lord's Day. The result
was the excommunication of such Baptists as had been
members of the church.
In September, 1665, they were arraigned before the
Court of Assistants. They exhibited to the court a care-
fully written confession of faith. Objection was raised to
the following article, on the ground that it excludes from
visible saintship all unbaptized persons: " Christ's commis-
sion to his disciples is to teach and baptize, and those who
gladly receive the word and are baptized are saints by
calling, and fit matter for a visible church." " If any take
this to be heresy," the confession concludes, " then do we,
with the apostle, confess, that after the way which they
call heresy, we worship God, the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, believing all things that are written in the law and
the prophets and apostles." As the accused showed no
disposition to yield to the authorities, the case was referred
to the General Court to be held the next month (Octo-
ber 1 1). The sentence of the court reads as follows : " This
Court, taking the premises into consideration, do judge
meet to declare that the said Gould and company are no
orderly church assembly, and that they stand justly con-
victed of high presumption against the Lord and his holy
appointments, as also the peace of this government, against
which this Court doth account themselves bound to God,
1 78 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
his truth, and his churches here planted, to bear their testi-
mony, and do therefore sentence the said Gould, Osburne,
Drinker, Turner, and George, such of them as are freemen,
to be disfranchised, and all of them, upon conviction, be-
fore any one magistrate or Court, of their further proceed-
ings herein, to be committed to prison until the General
Court shall take further order with them."
It need scarcely be said that the Baptists continued their
meetings. On April 17, 1666, they were summoned be-
fore the County Court at Cambridge, and Gould, Osburne,
and George were fined four pounds each and required to
give bond for their appearance at the next Court of As-
sistants in the sum of twenty pounds each. Refusing to
comply with these requirements, they were cast into pris-
on. The Court of Assistants required them to pay their
fines and gave them to understand that the previous order
was to " stand in full force." The fines seem to have been
paid and the prisoners liberated. But annoyances of this
kind continued. In March, 1668, Gould appealed from
the County Court to the Court of Assistants, with the re-
sult that the jury " found for the plaintiff, reversion of the
former judgment." The court refused to accept this ver-
dict and sent the jury out for further consideration. A
qualified statement was returned, on the basis of which the
decision of the lowxr court was sustained.
In connection with these procedures the governor and
council arranged for a meeting of the principal ministers
along with the governor and magistrates, " before whom
. . . the above-said persons and their company shall have
liberty, freely and fully, in open assembly, to present their
grounds ... in an orderly debate of this following ques-
tion: Whether it be justifiable by the word of God, for
these persons and their company to depart from commun-
ion with these churches, and to set up an assembly here
Chap. VI.] A DISFUTATIOX. 1 79
in the way of Anabaptism, and whether such a practice is
to be allowed by the government of this jurisdiction? To
Thomas Gould: You are hereby required in his Majesty's
name, according to the order of the Council above written,
to give notice thereof to John Farnum, senior, Thomas
Osburne, and the company, and you and they are alike
required to give your attendance." In this disputation
Gould and his associates had the active sympathy and
support of the Newport chutch, three of whose leading
members, William Hiscox, Joseph Torrey, and Samuel
Hubbard, were delegated by the church to be present, and
arrived three days before the event. The result was as
we have learned to expect in all such cases : the party in
power considered themselves victorious, and the weaker
party, for refusing to see the force of the arguments of
their opponents, were branded as obstinate heretics. The
record reminds one strongly of the protocols of sixteenth-
century Anabaptist processes in Catholic Austria or Prot-
estant Germany : "Whereas,Thomas Gould, William Turner,
and John Farnum, senior, obstinate and turbulent Anabap-
tists, have some time since combined themselves with others
in a pretended church estate, without the knowledge and
approbation of the authority here established, to the great
grief and offense of the godly orthodox ; . . . the said per-
sons did in open Court assert their former practice to have
been according to the mind of God, and that nothing that
they had heard had convinced them to the contrary ; which
practice, being also otherwise circumstanced with making
infant baptism a nullity, and thereby making us all to
be unbaptized persons, and so consequently no regular
churches, ministry, or ordinances, as also renouncing all our
churches, as being so bad and corrupt that they are not
fit to be held communion with ; denying to submit to
the government of Christ in the church, and entertaining
l8o THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
of those who are under church censure, thereby making
the discipHne of Christ to be of none effect, and mani-
festly tending to the disturbance and destruction of these
churches, — opening the door for ah sorts of abominations
to come in among us, to the disturbance not only of eccle-
siastical enjoyments, but also contempt of our civil order
and the authority here established, . . . which duty to God
and the country doth oblige us to prevent, by using the
most compassionate effectual means to attain the same;
all of which considering, together with the danger of dis-
seminating their errors, and encouraging presumptuous
irregularities by their example, should they continue in
this jurisdiction; this Court do judge it necessary that
they be removed to some other part of this country, or
elsewhere, and accordingly doth order that the said Thom-
as Gould, William Turner, and James Farnum, senior, do,
before the 20th of July next, remove themselves out of
this jurisdiction."
The sentence further provides for their imprisonment
without bail or mainprise in case they should be found in
the jurisdiction after the time fixed; and all officers con-
cerned are especially ordered to see to the execution of
the sentence. The church is forbidden to assemble again
on any pretense whatever, and imprisonment and banish-
ment are made the penalty of such meeting.
If we would rightly appreciate the significance of this
determined effort of the Baptists to embody their views in
church organization and church life, on the one hand, and
tiie equally determined effort of the Massachusetts author-
ities to crush the movement in its very inception, on the
other, we must call to mind the stage of British history
that has been reached. Since the banishment of Roger
Williams more than thirty momentous years had elapsed.
The Long Parliament, the Civil War, the Commonwealth,
Chai>. VI.] rillRTY YEARS OF PROGRESS. l8l
the Protectorate, and the Restoration had succeeded one
another with startling abruptness and revokitionizing-
effect. The ecclesiastical tyranny of Archbishop Laud and
Charles I. was succeeded by a triumph of Presbyterian
Puritanism and a vigorous effort on the part of the latter to
bring the whole of Britain into subjection to Presbyterian
doctrine and discipline (1641-48). Independency, pedo-
baptist and Baptist, which in 1640 was limited to a few per-
secuted and despised congregations and a number of isolated
individuals in the Puritan churches, had by 1647 attained
to a dominating position in the triumphant parliamentary
arm)^ most of the leading ofificers having become Inde-
pendent and many of them Baptist ; and this Independent
army had been able to destroy monarchy and prelacy and
to put a limit to Presbyterian aspirations after theocratic
control. The doctrine of liberty of conscience, which had
hitherto been advocated only by a few obscure Baptists,
had been set forth with magnificent completeness and tell-
ing effect by Roger Williams, and had been accepted with
greater or less completeness by a large proportion, and
the most influential portion, of the EngHsh people. The
Restoration had brought terrible persecution to dissent
from the established church, involving the ejection in 1662
of two thousand Presbyterian and Independent ministers.
Even English Puritans were coming to see that something
could be said in favor of toleration. We may note the
earnest remonstrances from leading English Congregation-
alists in connection with the persecution of Clarke, Holmes,
and Crandall, in 1651. The persecution of Gould and his
brethren in 1668 by the New England Congregationalists
was a source of amazement to English Congregationalists,
who had long before learned the way of the Lord more
perfectly, and who were at this very time groaning under
the intolerance of the restored Stuart dynast}'. The New
1 82 THE BAPTISTS. [Pek. i.
England theocracy had remained stationary in its intol-
erance, while the large party in England with whom it
claimed affiliation had made great strides forward in their
conception of civil and religious liberty. Wilson, the first
pastor of the Boston church, made a dying declaration
about this time (May, 1667), which many accepted as the
words of a prophet. Among the sins which in his view-
greatly provoked God were :" i. Separation. 2. Anabap-
tism. 3. Corahism." The latter he defined as rising up
against ministers or elders. All three of these .specifica-
tions were aimed at the Baptists. He reproached the
magistrates for being " Gallio-like, either not caring for
these things, or else not using their power and authority
for the maintenance of the truth, gospel, and ordinances
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." "Should the
Lord leave them hereunto, how miserable a people we
should be!"
It should also be borne in mind that at the time of the
organization of the First Baptist Church of Boston the
New England churches were convulsed with controversy
over the Half-way Covenant. According to the earlier
arrangement, embodied in part in the Cambridge Platform
of 1648, the exercise of the rights of citizenship was lim-
ited to those in full communion in one of the recognized
churches, and full communion was accorded only to those
who gave credible evidence of having exercised saving
faith and having been regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
Each individual applying for church-membership must
submit to a thorough examination as to his Christian ex-
perience. Only the children of parents at least one of
whom was in full communion were entitled to baptism.
Baptized children were regarded as church-members by
virtue of the fact that they were children of believers, but
even such could become eligible to partake of the Supper
Chap. VI.] THE HALF-WAY CO\-EXANT. 1 83
only by making a personal profession of saving faith.. The
result of these arrangements was that within a few years
the great mass of the population were deprived of full
communion and so of citizenship and of the right to have
their children baptized. It began to be seriously asked
by many, What is the use of infant baptism, seeing that it
confers no special privilege, civil or religious, apart from
the personal profession of the person baptized ? Why not
postpone baptism until after the personal profession ? The
discontent of the majority of the population at being taxed
for the support of public worship and yet denied the privi-
leges of membership for themselves and their families, and
especially at being civilly disfranchised, had become so
general and demonstrative by 1657 that it could no longer
be safely ignored. Moreover, the tendency of the logic
of the situation toward the production of Baptists had
doubtless become evident to many minds. The Half-way
Covenant was a measure, agreed to by a large majority
of the Synod called together by the civil authorities to
consider the situation, for the remedying of the difficulties
that had become embarrassing. Already at the time of
the adoption of the Cambridge Platform there was a large
and influential party in favor of extending the privileges
of baptism and making the terms of communion more lib-
eral. The question before the Synods of 1657 and 1662
was whether to enlarge the subjects of full communion, so
that those who had been baptized in infancy, were ortho-
dox in their views and without scandal in their lives, should
be received into full communion without a personal pro-
fession of saving faith ; or to accord the privilege of bap-
tism to the children of such. The decision was in favor
of the latter concession, but in practice the doors of many
of the churches were soon thrown wide open, and the re-
quirement of evidences of personal regeneration was gen-
184 ^'^^^ BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
erally abandoned, its place being taken by a formal owning
of the covenant. As the logic of the situation under the
Cambridge Platform had favored the development of Bap-
tist sentiment, so the virtual abandonment of the effort to
maintain regenerate membership on the part of the New
England churches furnished the strongest possible ground
for Baptist protest, regenerate membership having been
from the beginning one of the chief points of their conten-
tion. The Boston church of which Wilson had been pastor
was soon to suffer schism under John Davenport, his suc-
cessor, who was one of the most pronounced opponents
of the Half-way Covenant; and a condition of unrest in
ecclesiastical matters that was highly favorable to the for-
mation of new churches pervaded the colonies.
But this necessary digression has already proceeded too
far. We left Gould under the sentence of the court, with
banishment as the only alternative to continued imprison-
ment, and the Baptist church forbidden to assemble fur-
ther under like penalties. On July 30th, William Turner
and John Farnum were likewise committed to jail. A
numerously and influentially signed petition for the re-
lease of the prisoners, based on humanitarian as well as
on religious grounds, was presented to the assembly at
its autumn session. Governor Bellingham was one of the
most intolerant of the magistrates, and was largely influ-
ential in securing these rigorous measures against the Bap-
tists. Francis Willoughby, deputy governor, 1665-71, is
saici to have opposed these persecuting measures. Reports
of this persecution were sent to England. The following
extracts from a letter written to Captain OliA'er by Robert
Mascall will illustrate the feelings awakened among Eng-
lish nonconformists by these procedures: "We are hearty
and full for our Presbyterian brethren's enjo}'ing equal
liberty with ourselves; oh that they had the same spirit
Chap, vi.] INTOLERAXCE REBUKED. 1 85
towards us! but oh, how it grieves and affects us that New
Enghuid should persecute! will you not give what you
take? is liberty of conscience your due? and is it not as
due unto others that are sound in the faith? . . . Now
must we force our interpretation upon others, Pope-like?
In verse 5 of that chapter [Rom. xiv.] the Spirit of God
saith, ' Let every one be fully persuaded in his own mind ;'
therefore this being the express will of God, who shall
make a contrary law, and say, Persuadeci or not persuaded,
you shall do as we say, and as we do ! and verse 23, ' What
is not of faith is sin;' therefore there must be a word for
what we do, and we must see and believe it, or else we
sin if we do it. . . . And what principles is persecution
grounded upon? Domination and infallibility. This we
teach is the truth. But are we infallible, and have we the
government? God made none, no not the apostles who
could not err, to be lords over faith ; therefore what mon-
strous pride is this? At this rate any persuasion getting
uppermost may command, and persecute them that obey
them not ; all nonconformists must be ill-used. Oh wicked
and monstrous principle ! . . . Whatever you can say
against those poor men, your enemies say against you.
And what! is that horrid principle crept into precious
New England, who have felt what persecution is, and have
always pleaded for liberty of conscience? Have not those
[Baptist.s] run equal hazards with you for the enjoyment
of their liberties ; and how do you cast a reproach upon
us, that are Congregational in England, and furnish our
adversaries with weapons against us? We blush and are
filled with shame and confusion of face, when we hear of
these things." The following from the same letter shows
how English Congregationalists had come to look upon
their Baptist brethren who had fought shoulder to shoulder
with them in the great conflict for civil and religious lib-
l86 THE BAPriS'J'S. [Per. i.
erty : "Dear brother, we here do love and honor them,
hold familiarity with them, and take sweet counsel to-
gether; they lie in the bosom of Christ, and therefore
ought to be laid in our bosoms. In a word, we freely ad-
mit them into churches; few of our churches but many of
our members are Anabaptists; I mean baptized again. . . .
Anabaptists are neither spirited nor principled to injure
nor hurt your government nor your liberties; but rather
these be a means to preserve your churches from apostasy,
and provoke them to their primitive purity."
Thirteen leading dissenting ministers of England, includ-
ing Drs. Owen and Goodwin and Messrs. Nye and Caryl,
wrote to the governor of Massachusetts in a similar strain,
the consideration most emphasized being the great injury
that would be done to the dissenting interest in England
by such intolerant practices in New England.
It was due, no doubt, to the combined influence of the
strong local sentiment that had found expression in vari-
ous ways, and to the vigorous protestation of the most in-
fluential Congregationalists of England, that the prisoners
for conscience' sake were released in a little less than a
year. It is probable that a majority of the magistrates
would have yielded to the demand for release long before,
but the governor was obdurate. For some years the Bap-
tists held their services upon Noddle's Island, where Gould
took up his residence. In November, 1670, we find Turner
again in prison, and warrants were " in two marshals' hands
for brother Gould also, but he is not yet taken, because
he lives on Noddle's Island, and they only wait to take
him at town." So wrote Edward Drinker, a member of
the church, to John Clarke and the Newport church. From
this letter it appears that earnest efforts were made to
secure the release of the prisoner, and that nearly all of
the deputies were against the imprisonment of the Bap-
Chap. VI.] PERSECUTION CONTINUES. 1 87
tists : " The town and country is very much troubled at
our troubles; and especially the old church in Boston, and
their elders, both Mr. Oxonbridge and Mr. Allen, have la-
bored abundantly, I think as if it had been for their best
friends in the world. Many more gentlemen and solid
Christians are for our brother's deliverance; but it cannot
be had ; a very great trouble to the town ; and they had
gotten six magistrates' hands for his deliverance, but could
not get the Governor's hand to it. . . . We keep our meet-
ing at Noddle's Island, every First-day, and the Lord is
adding some souls to us still, and is enlightening some
others ; the priests are much enraged. The Lord has given
us another elder, one John Russell, senior, a gracious, wise,
and holy man that lives at Woburn, where we have five
brethren near that can meet with him ; and they meet to-
gether First-days when they cannot come to us, and I hear
there are some more there looking that way with them.
. . Brother Turner's family is very weakly and himself
too. I fear he will not trouble them long."
Massachusetts was far behind the times in the matter of
toleration, and a commotion like that aroused by the per-
secution of these godly, simple people was needed to show
the authorities in church and state what the world thought
of that sort of thing, and to bring out into activity the senti-
ments against tyranny and injustice that might otherwise
have remained latent. The reply from Newport written
by Samuel Hubbard is full of sympathy and brotherly
love. It is dated "9th month, 167 [," more than nine
months after the letter of Drinker. It may be that other
correspondence intervened. A further letter written to
Newport in reply to Hubbard's, and dated " the first, loth
month, '71," contains the following items : "Brother Turner
has been near to death, but tlirough mercy is revived, and
so has our pastor, Gould. The Lord make us truly thank-
1 88 l^t^^ BAPriS'JS. [Pi:k. I.
fill, and give us hearts to improve them, and those liberties
we yet enjoy that we l<no\v not how soon may be taken
from us. The persecuting spirit begins to stir again.
Elder Russell and his son, and brother Foster, are pre-
sented to the Court that is to be this month." From a
letter written by a member of the church, " 14, of the 4th
month, 1672," we learn that Russell is "out of prison
bonds, but is in a doubtful way as to recovery of his out-
ward health." The party addressed had heard that he
had died in prison.
In 1672 a revised edition of the law-book of Massachu-
setts was ordered by the assembl)-. The \'iews of the
Baptists are therein classed with " damnable heresies " and
"notorious impieties." It is "ordered and declared by
the Court, that if any Christian within this jurisdiction
shall go about to subvert and destroy the Christian faith
and religion, by breaching and maintaining any damnable
heresies; as denying the immortality of the soul, or resur-
rection of the body, or any sin to be repented cf in the
regenerate, or any evil done by the outward man. to be
accounted sin, or denying that Christ gave himself a ran-
som for our sins, or shall affirm that we are not justified
by his death and righteousness, but by the perfection of
our own works, or shall deny the morality of the fourth
commandment, or shall openly condemn or oppose the
baptizing of infants, or shall purposely depart the con-
gregation at the administration of that ordinance, or shall
deny the ordinance of magistracy, or their lawful authority
to make war, or to punish the outward breaches of the
first table, or shall endeavor to seduce others to any of the
errors and heresies above mentioned ; every such person
continuing obstinate therein, after due means of convic-
tion, shall be sentenced to banishment."
Persecution was renewed in 1673. A member of the
Chai'. VI.] MiriGAriON OF PERSECUTION. 1 89
church, writing June 19, 1673, relates: " Brother Trumbel
and brother Osburne were fined last Court at Charlestown,
twenty shillings apiece; they have appealed to the Court
of Assistants." In his election sermon, preached May 7,
1673, Urian Oakes voiced the sentiment of the dominant
party when he said : " I look upon an unbounded toleration
as the first-born of all abominations. . . . The eye of the
magistrate is to be to the securing of the way of God, that
is duly established. . . . We must not be so compassionate
to schismatic, turbulent, erroneous persons, as to be cruel,
injurious, or unkind to the precious interests of Christ
among us. Nature teacheth a man self-preservation.
Grace should teach a Christian magistrate . . . Christ-
preservation."
The death of Governor Bellingham (December, 1672)
and the accession of Governor Leverett, who had long
been known as a friend of the persecuted Baptists, brouglit
them considerable relief before the close of 1673. In Janu-
ary, 1674, a member could write: "The church of the
baptized do peaceably enjoy their liberty." The deputy
governor, Mr. Symonds, was like-minded with the gover-
nor in his opposition to persecution. The death of the
noble founder and first pastor of the church occurred Oc-
tober 27, 1675. He was a plain man, of only an ordinary
education; but he seems to have been full of the Holy
Ghost and of power. There is nothing on record to his
disadvantage. His life was one of great sufTering, but
eminently fruitful.
In the great Indian war of 1676, Captain William Turner,
a member of the church, with a company containing a
number of Baptists, achieved one of the most important
victories of the campaign and lost his own life.
Shortly after the death of Gould, John Myles gave some
months of valuable service to the Boston church, without
IQO THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
ceasing to be pastor at Swansea. By February, 1677, the
little flock had so increased in numbers that it was voted
to divide the church, for the greater convenience, no doubt,
of some of the members; but eleven months later this
action was reconsidered, and it was decided first of all to
devote their energies to the building of a meeting-house
and the settlement of an efficient minister. Of their own
number Russell was thought to be best qualified for the
pastorate. The question of retaining the services of Myles
and of sending Russell in his place to Swansea was consid-
ered ; but four parties would have been involved in such
a transaction — namely, Myles, Russell, the Swansea church,
and the Boston church — and to secure the concurrence of
all would in any case have been a difficult undertaking.
Myles returned to Swansea, and in July, 1679, Ru.ssell was
ordained pastor of the church.
Bradstreet, the successor of Governor Leverett, favored
the rigorous execution of the law against antipedobaptists,
and we learn from a letter to the Newport church dated
January 25, 1679, that members of the church had been
called to court, censured, heavily fined, and compelled to
pay court costs, while others had been only admonished
and .condemned to pay costs. It is stated that the con-
stables were backward to distress them for the charges.
By February 9th, Philip Squire and Fllis Callender had
quietly erected a plain meeting-house in Boston, for which
the church paid them sixty pounds. When it became
known that the new building was to be used as a Baptist
meeting-house, the theocratic authorities were filled with
indignation and alarm. The Baptist leaders were arraigned
before the court, and as such audacity as was involved in
the erection of a Baptist house of worship had scarcely
occurred to the authorities as possible, it was found that
no law existed arainst such an act. But the Massachusetts
Chap, vi.] CHARLES II. REBUKES IXTOLERAXCE. 19I
Court could enact laws as well as execute them. It was
ordered " that no persons whatever, \vithout the consent
of the freemen of the town where they live, ... or, in de-
fect of such consent, a license by the special order of the
General Court, shall erect or make use of any house as
above said ; and in case any person or persons shall be
convicted of transgressing this law, every such house or
houses wherein such persons shall so meet, more than
three, with the land whereon such house or houses stand,
and all private ways leading thereto, shall be forfeited to
the use of the county."
In July following, Charles II., persecutor though he was,
wrote to the Massachusetts authorities, requiring them to
allow liberty of conscience to all Protestants, and especially
insisting that no good subjects of his, for not agreeing in
the Congregational way, should " be subjected to fines or
forfeitures, or other incapacities for the same ; which is a
severity to be the more w^ondered at, whereas liberty of
conscience was made a principal motive for your first trans-
portation into those parts." But even if the magistrates
had been disposed to yield to the wishes of the king in
the matter of toleration, they might have been thwarted
by the overwhelming influence of the ministers. In this
same year the Reforming Synod was called for ascertain-
ing: " 1st. What are the evils that have provoked the Lord
to bring his judgments on New England? 2d. What is
to be done that so these evils maybe reformed?" In
the diagnosis, under the third specification, the following
occurs: "Human inventions and will-worship have been
set up even in Jerusalem. Men have set up their thresh-
olds by God's threshold, and their posts by his post.
Quakers are false worshipers: and such Anabaptists as
have risen up amongst us, in opposition to the churches
of the Lord Jesus, receiving into their society those that
192 THE BArriSTS. [Per. i.
hav^e been for scandal delivered unto Satan, yea, and im-
proving those as administrators of holy things, who have
been (as doth appear) justly under church censures, do no
better than to set up an altar against the Lord's altar.
Wherefore it must needs be provoking to God, if these
things be not duly and fully testified against, by every one
in their several capacities respectively." The Old Testa-
ment references following make it evident that the capacity
in which magistrates are to testify is the use of force for the
extirpation of heresy. Such men as Increase Mather seem
to have honestly believed that one of the reasons for the
terrible destruction of life and property by the Indians from
1676 onward was the failure of the New England people
to exterminate Quakerism and antipedobaptism. It is
scarcely needful to say that the " scandal " and " church
censures " mentioned in the document quoted were solely
in connection with protests against infant baptism.
It is not to be wondered at that the authorities should
have disregarded the king's command, and that they should
have heeded the requirement of the ministers in solemn
Synod assembled to testify " duly and fully " against " the
Anabaptists." A warrant was issued for March 5, 1680,
" in his Majesty's name, forthwith to summon Philip Squire,
Thomas Skinner, and Mr. Drinker, to make their appear-
ance before the Court of Assistants now sitting, ... to
give an account of their breach of the law in erecting a
meeting-house." It will be remembered that the law re-
ferred to was enacted after the offense had been com-
mitted ; and to issue a warrant in his Majesty's name in op-
position to his Majesty's express command seems a little
like taking his Majesty's name in vain. The church pre-
sented to the court a dignified and Christian " petition and
declaration," in which they set forth the innocence of their
motives in separating and in building a meeting-house,
CiiAi'. VI.] THE MEETIXG-IIOUSE CLOSED. 193
and as " having no design against the peace of the place,
but being still as ready as ever to hazard " their" lives for
the defense of the people of God here," they " do humbly
request " that they may be permitted " to enjoy the liberty
of God's worship, in such places as God has afforded"
them. " There being a law made in ]\Iay last against
meeting in the place built, we submitted to the same, until
we fully understood, by letters from several in London,
that it was his Majesty's pleasure and command . . . that
we should enjoy liberty of our meetings in the manner as
other of his Protestant subjects; and the General Court at
their last meeting not having voted a non-concurrence."
The court responded by ordering the doors of the house
to be shut, and inhibiting the holding of meetings or the
opening of the doors. The Baptists worshiped the next
Lord's Day in the yard, and afterward built a shed for
protection from the weather. A week later they found
the doors open, by whose agency they knew not, and wor-
shiped in the building. For this they were again sum-
moned (May 11). Eight days later they were " admon-
ished " and " their offense past " forgiven, but they were " still
prohibited " " to meet in that public place they have built,
or any other public house except such as are allowed by
lawful authority."
Pastor Russell at about this time wrote a " Narrative "
of the sufferings of the Boston Baptist church, which was
published in England, with a preface by William Kiffin,
Daniel Dyke, William Collins, Hanserd Knollys, John Har-
ris, and Nehemiah Cox, the leading Particular Baptist
ministers of England at that time. These ministers ex-
press amazement that those who fled persecution and
sought liberty of conscience in the New World, with their
immediate successors, should persecute their brethren for
differences in religion. " For one Protestant congregation
194 ^-^^^ BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
to persecute another, where there is no pretense to infalH-
bihty in the decision of all controversies, seems much more
unreasonable than the cruelties of the Church of Rome
towards them that depart from their superstitions."
In 1 68 1 Samuel Willard published a reply to Russell's
" Narrative," with a preface by Increase Mather, who re-
pudiates the representation that the New England anti-
pedobaptists are persecuted " merely for a supposed error
about the subject of baptism." He agrees that " Protest-
ants ought not to persecute any," but thinks it " cannot
be rationall}/ denied " " that Protestants may punish Prot-
estants." He entreats his English Baptist " brethren "
"seriously to consider: i. That the place may sometimes
make a great alteration as to the indulgence to be expected.
It is evident that that toleration is in one place, not only
lawful, but a necessary duty, which in another place would
be destructive ; and the expectation of it irrational. That
which is needful to ballast a great ship will sink a small
boat. ... 2. Let them consider that those of their per-
suasion in this place have acted with so much irregularity
and profaneness, that should men of any persuasion what-
soever have done the like, the same severity would ha\-e
been used towards them." This last statement, in view of
all the facts presented on both sides, cannot be regarded
as other than slanderous. The sum of their offending had
been their refusal to have their children baptized, their re-
fusal to witness the administration of the rite, and in a few
cases somewhat demonstrative protestations of dissatisfac-
tion with what they regarded as an utter perversion of an
ordinance of Christ.
The sentiment of the dominant party toward the Baptists
at this time is probably faithfully represented by Willard
in the work referred to : " They say baptized persons are
true matter of a visible church, and they say those that
Chap. VI.] BAPTISTS TOLERATED. 195
were only sprinkled in their infancy were never baptized;
and will not this undermine the foundation of all the
churches in the world but theirs? and what more perni-
cious ! they had even as good cry with Edom's sons, Raze
it, raze it to the foundation! . . . Experience tells us that
such a rough thing as a New England Anabaptist is not
to be handled overtenderly." Hubbard sought to bring
Russell into contempt by stigmatizing him as " a wedder-
drop'd shoemaker."
It appears that the authorities now yielded to the press-
ure at home and from abroad, and desisted from their
efforts to suppress the Baptist meeting. Elder Russell
died December 21, 1680. Elder Hull seems to have
been for some time associated with him in the pastoral,
guidance of the church. The chief responsibility soon
cam'e to rest upon Ellis Callender and Edward Drinker.
In 1684 the church secured the services of John Emblen,
an English Baptist minister, who continued with them till
his death in 1699. After fruitless efforts to obtain another
pastor from England, Ellis Callender, who had for thirty
years been one of the most active members of the church,
was called to the pastoral office. He was ordained in i 708,
and ministered to the flock till 17 18, when he was willing
to lay the burden upon the shoulders of his son Elisha, a
Harvard graduate.
As indicating the change of sentiment on the part of
the ministers of the standing order in relation to the Bap-
tists, it is interesting to note that in 17 14, after relief from
great distress, the Baptists were invited to join with the
other churches in acknowledging the " favors of our prayer-
hearing Lord, with the solemnities of a thank.sgiving."
Cotton Mather, who yet in his " Magnalia " was ungener-
ous and unfair in his treatment of the Baptists, communi-
cated the invitation in courteous style. It is addressed
196 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
" to my worthy friend, Mr. Ellis Callender, elder of a church
of Christ in Boston." Evidently, prejudice against Bap-
tists had lost much of its pristine bitterness.
By I 718 the relations between the Baptists of Boston
and the representatives of the standing order had become
so cordial that, on the occasion of the ordination of Elisha
Callender, the aged Increase Mather was invited to give
the right hand of fellowship, and his son, Cotton Mather,
to preach the ordination sermon. These inxitations were
graciously accepted, and the duties involved gracefully
performed. The sermon was a somewhat remarkable plea
for unity and brotherly love as far as conscience will allow,
and for toleration of differences when agreement cannot
be attained. " Let good men go as far as they can with-
out sin in holding communion with one another. But where
sinful terms are imposed, there let them make their stops ;
there a separation becomes a duty ; there the injunction of
Heaven upon them is. Be ye separate, saith the Lord, and
touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you."
With a highly educated and zealous young pastor thus
recognized by the most prominent ministers and churches
of the Congregational way, the Boston Baptist church is
at last freed from the harassments of the earlier time and
from the struggle for mere existence, and is in a position
to carry forward its work with vigor and comfort. Ellis
Callender had won the respect of his fellow-citizens, and
to a still greater extent, no doubt, his liberally educated
son enjoyed the esteem of the community. His labors as
pastor of this church terminated with his life in i 738. He
was succeeded by Jeremiah Condy, a young Englishman
sent out at the request of the church, who was ordained
in 1739 and ser\-ed tlie church for twenty-five years His
Arminianism and his opposition to the great revival led to
the organization of the Second Boston Church in 1743.
CHAr. VI.] IIOLLIS\S BENEFACTIOXS. 197
It seems to have been due, in some measure at least, to
the influence of EHsha Callender that Thomas Hollis, a
wealthy EngUsh Baptist, and his descendants for two or
three generations contributed with a generosity unusual
at that time to the equipment and endowment of Harvard
College. It appears that Hollis had become acquainted
with President Increase Mather during a \isit of the lat-
ter to England, and when he learned of the courtesy and
good- will shown to the Baptists by President Mather and
his son in connection with the ordination of Elisha Cal-
lender, he decided to make Harvard College an object of
his benefactions. He provided for the education of a
number of Baptist students for the ministry at the col-
lege, and urged upon the ministers of the various Baptist
churches of America the importance of sending suitable
young men to be educated on these foundations. He also
gave great encouragement to other Baptist ministers as
well as Callender through gifts of books and in other deli-
cate ways. His name will ever be honored as that of one
of the noblest benefactors of the Baptist cause and the
cause of Christian education.
The First Baptist Church of Boston became, as might
have been expected, the mother of churches. The New-
bury church was formed in 1682, with the assent and no
doubt with the cooperation of the Boston church. It is
probable that several of its constituent members had been
connected with the older church (Backus, i., 405 ; cf. Wes-
ton's foot-note on same page). The church organized
by William Screven, Humphrey Churchwood, and others
at Kittery, Me., during the same year, was likewise
due to Boston influence. The important and interest-
ing history of this movement we shall have occasion to
narrate elsewhere. By 1694 there were two Indian Bap-
tist churches in Massachusetts, one on Martha's Vineyard
198 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
and another on Nantucket Island. Thomas Mayhew, the
proprietor of Martha's Vineyard, had treated the natives
so humanely that large numbers of them had accepted the
gospel. His son ministered to them in spiritual things.
The first to introduce Baptist views among them appears to
have been Peter Foulger, who was employed as a teacher
among them during the absence in England of the younger
Mayhew. So friendly were these Indians that during tlic
terrible wars of 1676 onw^ard they remained faithful to the
English. Foulger became a member of the First Newport
Church about 1675. One of his grandsons was Benjamin
Franklin. The first Indian Baptist pastor of whom we are
informed was John Tackamason. Though not himself a
Baptist, Mayhew expressed the highest confidence in his
Christian character: "I had frequent conversation with
him while he was in health, and sometimes ... in the time
of that long sickness whereof he died ; and never from first
to last saw anything by him that made me any ways sus-
pect the integrity of his heart, but did ever think him to
be a godly and discreet man." His death occurred in i 708.
A Six Principle Baptist church was formed at Swansea in
1693 under the leadership of Thomas Barnes. In 1732 a
Baptist church was formed in Rehoboth under the minis-
try of the learned and zealous John Comer, who had given
up the pastorate of the First Church, New^port, on account
of his acceptance of the doctrine of the laying on of hands,
but, unlike most Six Principle Baptists, continued to be an
earnest Calvinist. Thirty members withdrew from the
iMrst Church, Swansea, without ill-will on either side so
far as appears, to form the new^ church. The elders and
messengers of the Swansea church assisted in the installa-
tion of the pastor. A revival ensued immediately upon
the organization, and in less than two years the church
had a membership of ninety- five. Comer labored with
CiiAP. VI.] COMER'S DEATH. 1 99
consuming zeal, his evangelistic efforts extending far be-
yond the limits of his own community. He died of con-
sumption in his thirtieth year, May 23, 1734. Though his
life was thus cut short, the life-work of few of his contem-
poraries was more fruitful. Largely through the influence
of the labors of Comer in 1632, a Baptist church was or-
ganized at Sutton, September, 1635, of which two years
later Benjamin Marsh and Thomas Green became joint
pastors. The church divided by mutual agreement in Sep-
tember, 1738, Green becoming pastor of the new Leices-
ter church. In November, 1736, a Baptist church was
organized at Brimfield, and five years later Ebenezer
Moulton, whose ancestor, Robert Moulton, had been a
member of the first House of Representatives at Boston
in 1634, but who was among those disarmed in 1637 in
connection with the antinomian controversy (Backus, ii.,
31, and Weston's note), became pastor.
CHAPTER VII.
BAPTISTS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND THE JERSEYS.^
The Jerseys and Pennsylvania from about 1682 onward
had a strong attraction for all radical types of evangelical
life. Here the Baptists rooted themselves more frmly
than in almost any other part of America, and here they
attained to a perfection of organization and to a degree of
unity and uniformity in doctfine and polity that could be
found nowhere else on the continent. The confirmation
of England's claim to the possession of New Jersey in 1674
and of the grants of this territory by the crown to the
Duke of York and by him to Sir George Carteret and to
Lord John Berkeley, whose toleration principles had be-
come well known through their earlier relations to this
territory, and especially fhe purchase of Lord Berkeley's
interest by the Quakers Fenwicke and Byllynge, caused a
large influx of Quakers and Baptists from England and
elsewhere. The Quakers had control of West Jersey from
1677 onward. After the death of Carteret his interests
were purchased by a company of Quakers, of whom Wil-
liam Penn was the chief (February, 1682, N. S ). Thus a
large and attractive region was opened up for settlement
on the most liberal terms. Even more important to the
cause of religious freedom and to the settlement of the
country with radical and primitive types of Christianity was
the purchase of Pennsylvania by William Penn, the Quaker
1 Cf. Morgan Edwards; Benedict; " Min. Phil. Bapt. Assoc.;" Spencer;
Cook; Jones, " Hist. Sk. Lower Dublin Baptist Church."
200
CiiAP. VII.] PE/VN AND PENiXSYLVAXIA. 20I
capitalist, statesman, and philanthropist, in 1681. It is one
of the marvels of history that such a king as Charles II.
should have sold to such a man as William Penn so large
and valuable a territory as Pennsylvania on terms so highly
favorable to civil and religious freedom, and with the cer-
tainty that it would be used for the freest development of
what was then regarded as one of the most radical forms
of Christianity. The authority of Penn in the government
of the pro\ ince was made practically unlimited. But he
had purchased the territory not for his own sake, but for
the advancement of truth and righteousness. The rapid-
ity with which the territory was settled b}- Quakers from
England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, by Mennonites,
Dunkards, and Pietists from Germany and the Nether-
lands, and by Baptists from Wales and elsewhere, was
unprecedented in the history of American colonization.
Many of all classes were attracted from the older colonies
by the civil and religious freedom and by the advantages
of climate and soil that the new commonwealth offered.
By 1685 the population had reached 7200 and embraced
French, Dutch, Germans, Swedes, P^inns, and Scotch- Irish,
besides large numbers of English and Welsh.
The first Baptist church organized in these Quaker
provinces was that at Cold Spring, Bucks County, Pa. It
was founded about 1684 by Thomas Dungan, an Irish
Baptist minister, who had been for some time a member
of the Newport church. Little is known of the man or
his work. Pie was already advanced in years. Keach
characterized him as "an ancient disciple and teacher
among the Baptists." The church had become extinct
by 1702, Dungan having died in 1688 and no efficient
leader having appeared to take his place. Dungan's pos-
terity amounted in 1770, according to Morgan Edwards,
to between six and seven hundred.
202 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
The next church to be organized in Pennsylvania was
that at Lower Dublin, or Pennepek. In 1686 several
Baptist families from Radnorshire, Wales, together with
an Irish and an English Baptist, settled on the banks of
the Pennepek River. At about the same time Elias Keach,
son of Benjamin Keach, the famous English Baptist minis-
ter and author, came as a youthful adventurer to Pennsyl-
vania. Whether from mere w^antonness or from a desire
by fraud to secure a livelihood, he assumed the clerical
dress and passed himself off as a minister of the gospel,
being at the time an utter stranger to divine grace. As a
son of Benjamin Keach he found ready access to the little
band of Baptists on the Pennepek, and it was arranged that
he should preach for them. When he was in the midst
of his discourse the enormity of his sin dawned upon him.
He was overcome by remorse, confessed his imposture, and
was soon afterward a rejoicing believer. He was baptized
and ordained to the ministry by Elder Dungan. A num-
ber who had been converted under his ministry and bap-
tized by him joined with the original company in organiz-
ing themselves into a church, January, 1688. A number
of scattered Baptists in other parts of the province and
in West Jersey united with them. Through the earnest
evangelistic efforts of young Keach, baptized believers
were soon to be found at the Falls, Cold Spring, Burling-
ton, Cohansey, Salem, Penn's Neck, Chester, Philadelphia,
and other places. These continued for some time to be
members of the Pennepek church, where they met from
time to time to break bread, preaching services being held
in each locality as often as convenient, while four quarterly
meetings w^ere held for evangelistic and communion pur-
poses at Burlington, Cohansey, Chester, and Philadelphia,
in rotation. Keach's return to England in 1692 was a
severe loss to this widespread Baptist community. He
Chap. VII.] PENNEPEK AND PISCATAQUA. 203
seems to have resigned the pastorate of the Pennepek
church in 1689 on account of controversy on the laying
on of hands, and to have spent the two years following as
an evangelist. One effect of the cultivation of so wide a
field by the pastor and members was the development of
the gifts of the brethren. During the pastor's absence from
Pennepek weekly " meetings for conference " were sus-
tained, and in the out-stations of the church brethren were
raised up who could conduct the services to edification.
Keach was succeeded in the pastorate by John Watts, one
of the constituent members ; and Samuel Jones, another,
was appointed to conduct the home services during the
pastor's absence. Jones and Evan Morgan, who had been
for some time active in church work, were ordained to the
pastorate in i 706. Serious and long-continued difficulties
marred the life of the church during the last years of the
century. The questions causing trouble were absolute
predestination, the laying on of hands, psalm-singing, and
Sabbatarianism.
The church at Piscataqua, N. J., was gathered by Thomas
Killingsworth about 1689. Killingsworth was one of the
most zealous and successful of the Baptist ministers of
this region and was instrumental in founding a number of
churches. He seems to have been an ordained minister
in England. For some years he added to his labors as a
minister those of county judge. It has been thought prob-
able that the nucleus of this church was due to the influ-
ence of Hanserd Knollys, who labored in Piscataqua, N. H.,
1638-41. Knollys was not a Baptist at the time, but Bap-
tist views appeared in the community a few years later,
possibly through his teachings. It is said further that
those who sympathized with Knollys went to Long Island,
whence they removed to New Jersey. The name given
to their settlement (Piscataqua) would seem to favor the
204 ^-^^^ BAPTISTS. [Pick. i.
theory. But we should beware of building on so slender
a basis of fact. The church when organized consisted of
only six members. After about twenty years the number
had increased to twenty, and by 1746 to one hundred.
About I 701 a member of the church, named Dunham,
admonished a neighbor for working on Sunday. He was
asked to prove the holiness of the first day. As a result
of his examination of the question he was led to adopt
Sabbatarian views. About seventeen members of the
churcli joined with him in organizing a Seventh-day Bap-
tist church in 1705. Dunham became the pastor of the
church and in 1734 was succeeded by his son. As an off-
shoot from this church another Seventh-day church was
formed at Shiloh, about forty miles south of Philadelphia,
in 1737-
The church at Middletown, N. J., was probably organ-
ized in 1687 or 1688. A considerable Baptist commu-
nity, made up of immigrants from Rhode Island and Long
Island, had been on the ground since 1665. Among the
Rhode Islanders was a son of Obadiah Holmes. Reach
and Rillingsworth both bestowed considerable labor on
this field. By 1711 the church had become in\-olved in
doctrinal controversy. The two pastors. Brown and Oki-
son, had been silenced by the contending factions. A
council of sister-churches was called in 1712 to seek an
adjustment of the differences. The decision of the council
was that the members should sign Elias Reach's Confession
of Faith, at least the Covenant annexed to it. Those who
should conform to this requirement would be recognized
as the only regular Baptist church in those parts. Of the
sixty-eight members forty-two subscribed, while twenty-
six refused. It was further recommended that the recu-
sants should be tenderly dealt with. There is no evidence
that the minority effected a separate organization. The
Chap, vii.] COHAXSEY AND PIIILADELnilA. 20$
two brethren who had been silenced were ordered by the
council to remain silent. The recommendation " to bury
their proceedings in oblivion and erase the record of them "
seems to have been observed so far as removing from the
book the leaves containing the record is concerned. The
church secured John Burrows as pastor the next year, who
served them till his death. At the close of the present
period Abel Morgan, who was soon to become one of the
most noted Baptist preachers of the time, had just entered
upon the pastorate of this church.
The nucleus of the Cohansey, N. J., church was formed,
it would seem, by a small company of Baptists from Tip-
perary, Ireland, who settled in the community about 1687.
They were joined two years later by Obadiah Holmes, Jr.,
and John Cornelius, both from Rhode Island. Keach
bestowed considerable labor upon this field also and bap-
tized a number in 1688. The organization of the church
was effected about 1691. Killingsworth remained pastor
of the church till his death, in i 708, and was assisted by
Holmes, who was judge of the Common Pleas in Salem
Court. A party of Baptists from Swansea, Mass., had set-
tled in the neighborhood before the church was organized,
and under the leadership of Timothy Brooks maintained a
separate meeting until after Killingsworth's death. This
was due to differences of opinion on predestination, psalm-
singing, the laying on of hands, etc. The two bodies now
united under the pastorate of Brooks, who died two years
later. During the latter part of this period the church
was served chiefly by Nathaniel Jenkins, pastor of the Cape
May church, who finally settled at Cohansey.
The formal organization of the First Baptist Church of
Philadelphia did not occur until 1698, although services
had been held in the city under the auspices of the Penne-
pek church from 1687 onward. John Holmes, who also
206 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
occupied a high judicial position, and who as judge on
one occasion refused to act with the Quaker magistrates
against the Keithian Quakers, is the first Baptist known to
have settled in Philadelphia. He seems to have arrived
in 1686. A number of English Baptists took up their
residence in the city in 1696 and 1697. I^^ the latter year
Thomas Killingsworth baptized a considerable number in
Philadelphia, including two Keithian Quakers. From this
time onward the relations of this church to the Keithians
become interesting and important. The schism in the
Quaker body led by George Keith, who bitterly attacked
the body on the ground of its exaltation of the inner light
and its comparative disparagement of Scripture author-
ity, its neglect of discipline, its departure from the earlier
teaching of the body with reference to warfare, magistracy,
etc., led to some gain in numbers by the Baptists, but in-
volved them in somewhat serious troubles as well. Keith
himself forsook his followers and entered the Episcopal
Church. Some of the Keithians returned to the regular
Quakers, some united with one denomination, and some
with another. Yet several congregations held together, not-
ably those of Upper Providence, Philadelphia, Southamp-
ton, and Lower Dublin. According to Morgan Edwards,
" These, by resigning themselves to the guidance of Script-
ure, began to find water in the commission ; bread and wnne
in the command ; community of goods, love-feast, kiss' of
charity, right hand of fellowship, anointing the sick for re-
covery, and washing the disciples' feet ; and therefore were
determined to practice accordingly. The society of Keith-
ians most forward in these matters was that kept at the
house of Thomas Powell, in Upper Providence ; which for-
wardness, it is said, was due to one Abel Noble, who vis-
ited them, and was a Seventh-day Baptist minister when
he arrived in this country. The time they began to put
Chap, vii.] THE KEITHIAN QUAKERS. 20/
their designs in practice was Jan. 28, 1697, when the said
Abel Noble baptized a public Friend, whose name was
Thomas Martin. . . . Afterwards Mr. Martin baptized
other Quakers, to the number of 16." Beckingham, a
member of the Cohansey church, joined with them in or-
ganizing a church, of which Martin was chosen pastor b)^
lot. Fifteen other Quakers soon united with the church.
" But in I 700 a difference arose among them, touching the
Sabbath, which broke up the society. Such as adhered
to the observation of the Seventh day, kept together at
Newtown. . . . The rest lay scattered in the neighbor-
hood, till Mr. Abel Morgan gathered together 1 5 of them,
and formed them into a society, now called the church of
Brandy wine." This latter was a regular Baptist church.
The Philadelphia society of Keithians built a meeting-
house in 1692. Two of their members, William Davis and
Thomas Rutter, were baptized by Killingsworth in 1697.
The former united with the Pennepek church, the latter
baptized nine others and organized them (1698) into a
society on the basis of believers' baptism.
In 1699 the Baptists received an invitation from Thomas
Clayton, rector of Christ Church, to unite with the Church
of England. They replied in a dignified manner, declin-
ing to do so unless he could prove " that the Church of
Christ under the New Testament may consist ... of a
mixed multitude and their seed, even all the members of
a nation, . . . whether they are godly or ungodly," that
" lords, archbishops, etc., . . . are of divine institution
and appointment," and that their vestments, liturgical ser-
vices, use of musical instruments, infant baptism, sprinkling,
" signing with the cross in baptism," etc., are warranted
by Scripture. In 1707 the Baptists were invited by the
Keithians to unite with them and to make use of their build-
ing. This was the first meeting-house owned by the Phila-
205
THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
delphia Baptists. One of the Keithians, not sympathizing
with the union, gave a deed of the property to the Episco-
pahans, and the church, to avoid Htigation, paid a sum of
money to satisfy the chiim. Grave difficuhies were occa-
sioned in the church (171 1-12) by Thomas Selby, an Irish
minister, who apart from tliese troubles afterward proved
unworthy. The matter was referred to the Association
in I 712. The result was that several of Selby 's partisans
withdrew from the church and united with other denomi-
nations. The independence of the Philadelphia church
was not recognized until i 746. The occasion of the dec-
laration of independence w^as the desire of the mother-
church to share in certain legacies that had been left to
the Philadelphia body.
The church which came to be known as the Welsh Tract
church was organized in Pembrokeshire, Wales, in 1701,
and emigrated the same year to Pennsylvania. They first
settled in the Pennepek region, but having their own pas-
tor, Thomas Griffith, and not agreeing in all points with
the Pennepek church, they continued their separate exist-
ence. In 1703 they received a large grant of land on the
Delaware, known as the Welsh Tract, where they greatly
prospered, and were able to furnish to the denomination
some of its ablest ministers and to send forth a strong
colony to South Carolina (see previous chapter). Accord-
ing to Morgan Edwards, this church " was the principal, if
not .sole, means of introducing singing, imposition of hands,
church covenant, etc., among the Baptists in the Middle
States." Thomas Griffith, pastor of the church, labored
zealously for the promotion of the laying on of hands, and
by I 7 12 " all the ministers " in the Jerseys " had submitted
to the ordinance."
Other churches were organized before the close of this
period, as follows : The church at the Great Valley, made
Chap, vii.] MENA'ONITES AXD DUNKARDS. 20g
up chiefly of Welsh Baptists, who had been supplied with
gospel privileges by the Welsh Tract church, was consti-
tuted in 171 1, and chose Hugh Davis, an ordained minister
from Wales, to be their pastor; the Hopewell, N. J., church
was organized in 171 5, of those who had been members
of the Middletown, Philadelphia, and Pennepek churches,
and was for some time dependent on the visits of neigh-
boring pastors ; the Brandywine church, already mentioned,
composed chiefly of those who had been Keithians, was con-
stituted in I 71 5, and was largely dependent on the Welsh
Tract for gospel privileges ; the church at Montgomery,
county of Philadelphia, was made up of Welsh Baptists,
whose numbers were increased through the labors of Abel
Morgan. The organization of this church was efl"ected in
1719. Benjamin Griffith became its pastor in 1725.
The antipedobaptist life of Pennsylvania was augmented
by the immigration of large numbers of Dutch Mennonites,
1692 onward. By 1724 they had five large congregations
and sixteen ministers. In 1719 about twenty families of
Dunkards reached Pennsylvania. They had originated at
Schwaitzenau, Germany, in 1708, under the leadership of
Alexander Mack, and had introduced believers' baptism
anew, after the manner of John Smyth and Roger Williams.
They practiced trine immersion, and attempted to follow
rigidly apostolic precept and example as regards refusal to
go to law, feet-\Aashing, the kiss of peace, the love-feast,
anointing with oil, refusal to accept interest on money,
etc. The entire body came to America (1719 and 1729).
About I 730 a schism occurred in tlie Dunkard body on the
Sabbath question, community of goods, etc., the Sabbata-
rian party forming the Ephrata community at Lancaster,
Pa. It is uncertain to what extent these bodies influenced
the Baptist movement ; but as they were very exclusive
and fixed in their customs it is unlikely that many of them,
2 10 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
especially in the earlier time, passed over to the Baptists,
or that many Baptists passed over to them.
All the conditions were present in Pennsylvania and the
Jerseys for the development of strong and well-ordered
Baptist churches. Religious liberty reheved Baptists of
the necessity of being always on the defensive and spend-
ing their strength in the effort to exist. There was no
overshadowing and domineering church party to cause
them to be looked down upon as sectaries and intruders
and to look upon themselves as martyrs and aliens. While
the Quakers were numerous and in many cases wealthy,
they were for the most part free from arrogance and intol-
erance, and Baptists were able to be and feel themselves
citizens in the fullest sense. This was true, also, of Rhode
Island ; but Rhode Island Baptists were for the most part
such as had had experience of New England intolerance,
and the materials they drew from in the extension of
their work were of a thoroughly heterogeneous character.
They were likely to emphasize liberty and independence
at the expense of organization and interdependence. The
prevailing Welsh element among Pennsylvania Baptists had
come from churches well grounded in an evangelical type
of Calvinism and in Baptist principles and practices. They
combined evangelical zeal and fervor \x\i\\ thoroughgo-
ing denominational self-respect. The slight admixture of
Rhode Island Baptists with the prevailing Welsh element
tended to give to the resultan.t Baptist type a juster sense
of the importance of emphasizing the doctrine of religious
liberty than might otherwise have found place.
No agency did so much for the solidifying and extension
of the Baptist denomination in the American colonies as
the Philadelphia Association. That it could be formed
and could from the beginning secure the cooperation of a
number of churches in efforts to promote discipline, right
Chai'. VII.] PHILADELPHIA ASSOCIATIOX. 211
church order, soundness of teaching", and aggressive evan-
gelization, argues the antecedent existence in the churches
concerned of a sense of the importance of these things and
a wiUingness to Hmit the exercise of their independency
for the sake of securing these ends.
Almost from the beginning general meetings had been
held for evangelistic and communion purposes. These be-
gan under the ministry of Keach, when a number of widely
scattered bands of believers were still connected with the
Pennepek church. After the organization of these bands
into churches it is probable that such meetings were con-
tinued, all who could gathering and participating. In i 707
the general meeting assumed in part the character of an
Association. The following account is from the records
of the Pennepek church: "Before our general meeting,
held at Philadelphia, in the seventh month, 1 707, it was
concluded by the several congregations of our judgment,
to make a choice of some particular brethren, such as they
thought most capable in every congregation, and those to
meet at the yearly meeting to consult about such things
as were wanting in the churches, and to set them in order;
and these brethren meeting at the said yearly meeting
. . . agreed to continue the meeting till the third day
following in the work of the public ministry. It was then
agreed, that a person that is a stranger, that has neither
letter of recommendation, nor is known to be a person
gifted, and of a good conversation, shall not be admitted
to preach, nor be entertained as a member in any of the
baptized congregations in communion with each other.
It was also concluded, that if any difference shall happen
between any member and the church he belongs unto, and
they cannot agree, then the person so grieved may, at the
general meeting, appeal to the brethren of the several con-
gregations, and with such as they shall nominate, to decide
2 12 THE BAPTISTS. [I'kr. i.
the difference ; that the church and the person so grieved
do fully acquiesce in their determination." Subsequent
records show that this latter arrangement was carried out
with great consistency, wisdom, and efficiency, and there
can be no doubt that churches were thereby saved from
wrecking.
It is recorded that in i 710 and the year following " sev-
eral able men, ministers and elders, . . . came over from
South Wales and the West of England — as the Rev. Mr.
Nathaniel Jenkins, Mr. John Burrows, Mr. Abel Morgan,
and some that had been ruling elders in the churches they
came from — all of them men long concerned in the affairs
of churches and associations in their own countries."
The first important case of discipline seems to have been
that of the Philadelphia church and Thomas Selby. The
finding of the disciplinary committee of the Association
was " that the way and manner of dealing with each other
hath been from the rule of the Gospel, and unbecoming
Christians in many respects, and in some too shameful
here to enumerate the particulars. And first, we judge it
expedient in point of justice, that Mr. Thomas Selby be
paid the money subscribed to him by the members of this
church, and he be discharged from any further service in
the work of the ministry ; he being a person, in our judg-
ment, not likely for the promotion of the Gospel in these
parts of the country; and considering his miscarriages, we
judge he may not be allowed to communion. And sec-
ondly, as to the members of this congregation, we do ap-
prehend the best way is, that each party offended do freely
forgive each other all personal and other offences that may
have arisen on this occasion, and that they be buried in
oblivion ; and that those who shall for future mention or
stir up any of the former differences, so as to tend to con-
tention, shall be deemed disorderly persons, and be dealt
Chap. VII.] QUERIES AXSIVERED. 213
with as such. And thirdly, that those that exempted
themselves from their communion on this account, except
as above, be allowed to take their places orderly without
contention, and such as refuse, to be deemed disorderly
persons." This action is quoted to show the nature and
spirit of the Associational work in its early stages.
In 1722 it is decided that the churches shall "make in-
quiry among themselves, if they have any young persons
hopeful for the ministry, and inclinable for learning," such
cases to be reported to Mr. Abel Morgan for education on
Mr. Hollis's account.
In 1723 churches without ministers are advised to meet
for devotional exercises, and to " have due regard to order
and decency in the exercise of those gifts at all times, and
not to suffer any to exercise their gifts in a mixed multi-
tude until tried and approved of first by the church." It
is further " agreed, that the proposal drawn up by the sev-
eral ministers, and signed by many others, in reference to
the examination of all gifted brethren and ministers that
come in here from other places, be duly put in practice, we
having found the evil of neglecting a true and previous
scrutiny in those affairs."
Several queries were sent in to the meeting of 1724.
The first was " concerning the fourth commandment,
whether changed, altered, or diminished." It is an.swered
by referring to the Confession of Faith of 1689, "owned
by us," where the "Lord's day" is declared to be "the
Christian Sabbath," " to be continued to the end of the
world," " the observation of the last day of the week being
abolished." A negative answer is given to the query,
" Whether a believer may marry an unbeliever, without
coming under church censure for it?" It was also "con-
cluded and agreed, that a church ought to be unanimous
in giving their voice in choosing and setting up, or depos^
2 14 THE BAPTISTS. [Pkk. i.
ing one set up, to act in any church office. . . . Any act
of that nature commenced without common consent, is
void, and hath no power in it." As an indication of the
wise care that characterized the action of this body, it
may be mentioned that at the same session it was decided
that in the letters of the churches " sahitations, contempla-
tions, congratulations, etc.," should be given on one page,
to be read in the open meeting, while " complaints, queries,
grievances, etc.," should "be written apart" and "be
opened and read to the Association only."
In 1 726 the Association decided that " in case there
might be a division ... in any church in Great Britain,
and each party combining together in church form, each
being sound in the faith, and during the separation both
parties recommend members unto us here, as in full com-
munion with them," the churches should " take no further
notice of the letters by such persons brought here, than to
satisfy themselves that such are baptized persons and of a
regular conversation, and to take such into church cove-
nant as if they had not been members of any church
before."
It has been noticed that in the early history of the
denomination in Pennsyhania differences of opinion ap-
peared with respect to the la\ing on of hands. By i 729
practical unanimity seems to have been reached in favor
of the rite. The follovx^ng query was answered in the
negali\"e : " Suppose a gifted brother, who is esteemed an
orderly minister by or among those that are against the
laying on of hands in any respect [even in ordination to
the ministry, seems to be the thought], should happen to
come among our church ; whether we may allow such an
one to administer the ordinances ... ?"
Sabbatarianism was evidently giving some trouble in
I 730. There was a disposition on the part of the churches
CiiAi-. VII.] ./ DEAKTII OF PASTORS. 215
to allow full liberty to such as persisted, on conscientious
grounds, in observing the seventh day ; but such as with-
drew from the church and associated themselves actively
with the Seventh-day people should be disowned " in as
moderate a way and manner" as possible.
In 1 73 1 and 1732 much anxiety was expressed on ac-
count of the dearth of pastors, and in the latter year a
day of fasting and prayer w-as appointed to be kept by all
the churches " that the Lord may gift some among our-
selves, such as may be serviceable; or order, in the course
of his providence, some such to come among us from else-
where." In 1736 it was voted that a church at a distance
should not receive into membership a person living in the
neighborhood of another church.
The period closes amid prosperity, one hundred and
eleven having been received by baptism during the year
ending with September, i 740.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE FIRST BAPTISTS OF MAINE, SOUTH CAROLINA,
VIRGINIA, NORTH CAROLINA, CONNECTICUT,
AND NEW YORK.^
The reason for coupling two regions so remote from
each other as Maine and South Carohna will appear in the
course of the narrative.
In Januar}', 1682, the Boston Baptist church received a
letter written on behalf of a body of Baptists who had
gathered themselves for Christian worship at Kittery, in
the province of Maine, by Humphrey Churchwood, and
borne, it would seem, by one of the members of this
body, William Screven by name. After words of saluta-
tion, in apostolic style, the writer proceeds: " Most dearly
beloved brethren and friends, as I am, through free grace,
a member of the same body and joined to the same Head,
Christ Jesus, I thought it my special duty to inform you
that the tender mercy of God in and through Jesus Christ,
hath shined upon us by giving light to them that sit in
darkness, and to guide our feet in the way of peace ; for
a great door, and effectual, is opened in these parts, and
there are many adversaries. . . . Therefore I signify unto
you, that here are a competent number of well-established
people whose hearts the Lord hath opened insomuch that
they have gladly received the word and do seriously pro-
1 Backus ; Burrage ; " Hist. First Bapt. Ch. of S. Ca. ; " " Early Rec. Prov.
of Maine," vol. iv. ; Semple ; Armitage ; Trumbull ; True ; Winsor, " Nar. and
Cr. Hist, of Am.," vols. iii. and v.
216
Chap, viii.] SCREVEN'S OIWhYATIOy. 2l7
fess their hearty desire to the following of Christ and to
partake of all his holy ordinances, according to his blessed
institution and divine appointment ; therefore I present
my ardent desire to your serious consideration, which is,
if the Lord see it fit, to have a gospel church planted here
in this place; and in order hereunto, we think it meet that
our beloved brother, William Screven, who is, through
free grace, gifted and endued with the spirit of veterans,
[and has been] called by us, who are visibly joined to the
church. When our beloved brother is ordained according
to the sacred rule of the Lord Jesus, our humble petition
is to God that he will be pleased to carry on this good
work to the glory of his holy name, and to the enlarging
of the kingdom of his beloved Son."
The Boston brethren were not slow to respond to this
request. Eight days after Churchwood's letter was writ-
ten the church issued the following certificate, signed
by Isaac Hull and John Farnum : " To all whom it may
concern: These are to certify, that our beloved brother
William Screven is a member in communion with us, and
having had trial of his gifts among us, and finding him to
be a man whom God hath qualified and furnished with
the gifts of his Holy Spirit and grace, enabling him to
open and apply the word of God, which through the
blessing of the Lord Jesus may be useful in his hand, for
the begetting and building up of souls in the knowledge
of God, do therefore appoint, approve, and encourage him,
to exercise his gift in the place where he lives, or else-
where, as the providence of God may cast him; and so
the Lord help him to eye his glory in all things, and to
walk humbly in the fear of his name."
From Churchwood's letter it seems evident that a body
of baptized believers had already been organized and had
appointed Screven to the pastoral office ; but that they
2i8 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
did not consider themselves competent to administer the
ordinances until their minister elect should have received
ordination at the hands of a regularly constituted church,
and until the new organization should have been recog-
nized by an older. It is probable that most or all of those
who joined in the Kittery organization had been members
of Baptist churches in England. It is highly probable
that the pastor of the Kittery church is identical with the
William Scriven who, as a representative of the Somerton
church, was among the signers of the " Confession of the
Faith of several Churches of Christ in the County of Somer-
set [England], and of some Churches in the Counties near
adjacent," set forth in 1656. As he was born about 1629
he was twenty^five years of age at the time. The fact
that the settlement effected by him in South Carolina was
named Somerton would go far toward establishing this
identification ; but the supposition that it was his father
who signed the Confession would meet the case equally
well. It is almost certain that he was a member of the
Somerton church. The date of his arrival in Maine is
unknown, but it must have been at some time previous to
November 15, 1673, when his name appears in a deed at
Kittery. The following year he was married to a daughter
of Robert Cutts, a prosperous ship-builder, one of whose
brothers was the first president of New Hampshire. This
would seem to have been Screven's second marriage, as
a son of his named William was a member of the General
Court in 1694.
As early as 1675 we find him presented by the grand
jury " for not frequenting the public meeting according to
law on the Lord's da}'s." It was shown, however, that
he attended another meeting of the established religion.
After serving in a number of other public offices, he was
appointed a deputy from Kittery in 1681.
Chap, viii.] PERSECUTION AT KITTERY. 219 ■
Screven prolonged his absence in connection with his
ordination till some time after the 25th of January, for on
that date Churchwood wrote to Boston, referring some-
what impatiently to his failure to return and take charge
of the persecuted flock: "By his long absence from us,
he has given great advantage to our adversaries to triumph
and to endeavor to bear down that good beginning which
God, by his poor instrument, hath begun among us : and
our magistrate, Mr. Hooke, is almost every day summon-
ing and threatening the people by fines and other penal-
ties, if ever they come to our meeting any more, five
shillings for every such offence." Screven returned to
Kittery shortly afterward, and little time had elapsed be-
fore he was summoned before the court " upon rumors
and reports from a common fame of soine presumptuous
speeches about the holy ordinance of baptism which should
pass from him." He admitted that he conceived infant
baptism " no ordinance of God, but an invention of man " ;
but did not admit that he had " said it was an ordinance
of the devil." He " put us to prove by any positive com-
mand in the Gospel, or Scriptures, that there was infant
baptism, and, according to our understanding, he endeav-
ored to make good the matter of his words, and to put the
manner of them into a smoother dress, mincing the mat-
ter, as Edward Rishworth told him ; whose reply was that
mincing it was to put it in better terms than it deserved,
charging Mr. Hooke with prejudice, who brought him
thither, and desired not to be judged by him." A bond
of one hundred pounds was required for his release, which
Screven refused to furnish, accepting imprisonment in-
stead.
On April 12th he was tried before the court at York,
fined ten pounds, forbidden to hold any further meetings
in the province, and ordered to conform in religious mat-
2 20 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
ters to " the laws here established in the Province, upon
such penalties as the law requires upon his neglect of the
premises."
On June 28th following he appeared before the General
Assembly of the province. " The Court tendered him lib-
erty to return home to his famil}', in case he would for-
bear such kind of disorderly and turbulent practices and
amend for the future. But he refusing, the Court required
him to give bond for his good behavior, and to forbear
such contemptuous behavior for the future, and ordered
that the delinquent should stand committed until the judg-
ment of this Court herein be fulfilled. After which said
Screven, coming into the Court, did, in the presence of the
said Court, and president, promise and engage to depart
out of this Province in a very short time."
As no definite time had been fixed for his departure,
and as his own business interests as well as the interests
of the little society of Baptists were at stake, he doubtless
felt justified in putting the most liberal interpretation on
the requirement of the court to which he had assented.
He seems to have been particularly anxious that the or-
ganization of the church should be completed in the most
regular fashion before his departure. In September he
requested the Boston church to send the pastor and other
delegates to assist them in entering upon a church estate.
His mother-in-law had accepted Baptist views and wished
to be baptized. " We all conceive it will be more honor-
able and expedient that it be done by the Elder Hull, that
is so truly praised here. I pray you to consider these
things. Both may be done [the organization of the
church and the baptism] when the messengers come up
to us." It is probable that Hull had visited the Kittery
Baptists before this correspondence began. It may be
that the growth of Baptist sentiment had been due chiefly
Chap, viii.] SCREJ'EX GOES TO CAROLINA. 221
to his evangelistic efforts. Again the Boston church, ever
ready for Christian service, responded to the request of the
Kittery Baptists, and on September 25th Wilham Screven,
elder, Humphrey Churchwood, deacon, Robert Williams,
John Morgandy, Richard Cutts, Timothy Davis, Leonard
Drown, William Adams, Humphrey Azell, George Litten,
and a number of sisters united in signing a solemn cove-
nant of fellowship and service. It has commonly been
supposed that Screven and his associates left Kittery for
South Carolina at the end of 1682 or the beginning of
1683. The records of the province show, however, that
they were still at Kittery as late as October 9, 1683, when
the following entry occurs : " William Screven, being
brought before this Court for not departing this Province
according to a former confession of Court, and his own
choice, and denying now to fulfill it, this Court doth de-
clare that the sentence of the General Assembly, bearing
date the 28th of June, 1682, stands good and in full force
against the said William Screven during the Court's pleas-
ure." Some months later. May 27, 1684, an order was
issued for Screven " to appear before the General Assem-
bly in June next." It is possible, though not probable,
that the last order was intended for his son William, who
remained at Kittery after his father's departure. But we
have no evidence of collision with the authorities on the
part of the younger Screven, and it is not certain that he
had reached his majority at this time. With a number of
his brethren Screven made his way to South Carolina,
where he formed a settlement on the Cooper River, a few
miles above its junction with the Ashley River, where
Charleston was afterward formed. No writer consulted
has suggested a reason for this choice of a settlement, be-
yond the fact that the colony had been founded on broad
principles of toleration. It is probable that through his
222 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
wife's family, who had Hved for years at Barbadoes, Screven
knew of the colony of ninety-three persons that left Eng-
land in 1669 under the leadership of William Sayle, who
had been governor of Bermuda, and who was described
by a contemporary as a " Puritan and Nonconformist,
whose religious bigotry, advanced age, and failing health
promised badly for the discharge of the task before him."
After various disasters and a short sojourn in Bermuda,
they sailed for South Carohna, where in April, 1670, they
settled on the Ashley River, and named their settlement
Charlestown in honor of the king. At about the same time
Sir John Yeamans arrived as governor, bringing with him
the first negro slaves introduced into the province. In
1677 he ordered the laying out of a town at the junction
of the Ashley and Cooper Rivers, and thither the older
Charlestown gradually removed. In 1674, after the con-
quest of the Dutch of New Amsterdam (New York) by
the English, many of the former sought a new home
in Carolina and settled at Jamestown on the Ashley. The
charter of the colony provided for liberty of conscience ;
but though the Puritans and dissenters were in the major-
ity, the cavaliers and churchmen were the official and priv-
ileged class, and had chief control of the resources of the
province. For some time there was much of friction be-
tween these two elements, and the aristocratic class did
not fail to show contempt for the humbler Puritanism.
In 1682-83 there was another accession to the popula-
tion, which meant much to the Baptist cause in South
Carolina and which may have been the determining reason
for Screven's going thither. " The most valuable addition
to its [Carolina's] population," says a competent au-
thority (Grahame, " Colonial Hist, of the U. S.," i., 372),
" was supplied by the immigration of a considerable num-
ber of pious and respectable dissenters from Somerset-
Chap. VIII.] EARLY BAPTISTS OF CAROLINA. 223
shire in England. This band of emigrants was led by
Humphrey Blake, the brother ... of the renowned Ad-
miral Blake. . . . Humphrey Blake was a worthy, con-
scientious, and liberal man ; and willingly devoted his for-
tune to facilitate the retirement of a number of dissenters
with whom he was connected, from the persecutions they
endured in England, and the greater calamities they
apprehended from the probable accession of the Duke
of York to the throne." Among these immigrants was
Joseph Blake, a nephew of the admiral and a trustee of
Lord Berkeley, one of the lords proprietors of the province.
Lady Blake and her mother. Lady Axtell,were staunch Bap-
tists, and Joseph Blake himself was thoroughly sympathetic
with Baptist principles. He was soon to take a leading
part in the affairs of the colony, and was for several years
its governor. He had to do (along with Paul Grimball, a
Baptist, and others) with the revision of the constitution,
and his influence was uncompromisingly on the side of
religious liberty. During his governorship, in 1696, the
Huguenots, who had come to Carolina in large numbers
after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685), were
"incorporated with the freemen of the colony." This
action carried with it religious liberty for all but papists.
If the later date which the public records of the province
of Maine seem to fix for the departure of Screven be ac-
cepted, he at once exchanged the harassments of Maine
for a delightful and most promising field of labor. In any
case, he soon found himself surrounded by a considerable
number of sympathetic and highly influential souls, with
freedom to exercise his ministry according to the dictates
of his conscience.
About 1683 a colony of north Britons came to Carolina
under the patronage of Lord Cardross. They are said to
have been mostly Baptists. They settled on Port Royal
2 24 '^^^^ BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
Island and claimed independence of the Charleston Court.
Having failed to sustain this claim Lord Cardross returned
to England, and the population, being exposed to the hos-
tilities of Indians and Spaniards, removed (before 1686)
to the mouth of the Edisto River. The Baptist part of
the company became members of Screven's church at
Somerton. Thus from many quarters, in the providence
of God, a considerable band of zealous Baptists, many of
them influentially connected, was gathered in the neigh-
borhood of Charleston.
By 1693 a large proportion of the members of the
church had been drawn by the growing commercial im-
portance of Charleston to take up their residence there,
and it was thought wise to transfer their meeting to the
town. Until they built a house of worship they " held
their worship at the house of one WiUiam Chapman in
King Street." The lot on which the present building
stands was presented to the church in 1699 by William
Elliott. The Baptists were among the first to occupy this
region with organized Christian work. An Episcopal
minister seems to have been on the ground as early as
1680. Congregationalists from England and New Eng-
land, French Protestants, and Quakers soon had their con-
gregations and built their houses of worship in what was
becoming the flourishing city of Charleston. In 1698,
under strong Episcopal pressure, Governor Blake led the
dissenters to agree to a provision "for settling a perpet-
ual provision of one hundred and fifty pounds a year,
with a house and other advantages, on the Episcopal minis-
ter " of Charleston (Grahame, i., 388). It was a measure
fraught with evil, but was doubtless regarded as a politi-
cal necessity at the time.
In 1700, just as the Baptists were entering their new
meeting-house, they adopted the Confession of Faith set
Chai>. vui.] religious DESriTL'TIOX. 225
forth in 1689 by "the ministers and messengers of, and
concerned for, upwards of one hundred congregations in
England and Wales (denying Arminianism)," and, by rea-
son of its subsequent adoption (with slight modifications)
by the Philadelphia Association, known in America as the
Philadelphia Confession.
There was at this time a dearth of gospel privileges in
CaroHna outside of Charleston and its vicinity. The col-
ony had a population of about fifty- five hundred, of whom
three thousand were residents of Charleston. Outside of
Charleston there is said to have been at that date no
house of worship and no school. The Baptists were easily
foremost in evangelical zeal. Screven, though advanced
in age, was abundant in labors, and the Charleston church
sent forth of its own numbers and procured from other
communities those who carried the gospel to the neglected
planters. The English Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel in Foreign Parts furnished a number of mission-
aries from 1707 onward, but they found that in most cases
they had been preceded by the Baptists (Humphrey,
" Historical Account," pp. 88, 95, 108, etc.).
At the beginning of the eighteenth century the mistake
of the dissenting interest in not contending more earnestly
for equality of rights and privileges became manifest. The
intolerance of the proprietaries had become more and more
aggressive. In i 704, under the direction of Lord Gran-
ville, two laws were enacted, the aim of which was to de-
prive dissenters of all civil and religious rights and privi-
leges. According to the first, " All persons that shall
hereafter be chosen members of the Commons' House of
Assembly, and sit in the same," were required " to take
the oaths and sub.scribe the declaration appointed by this
bill, and to conform to the religious worship of this Prov-
ince, according to the Church of England, and to receive
226 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper according to the rites
of the said Church." It was provided that in case the
person receiving the highest number of votes should
refuse to quahfy by conformity to the Church of England,
the person receiving the next highest number should be
declared elected, and so on until the names voted for
should have been exhausted. Thus it would be possible
for a person receiving a small fraction of the votes cast to
act as representative of the people. This act was fol-
lowed up on the reassembling of the Commons by an Act
establishing Religious Worship, which provided for the
creation of a lay commission for the trial of ecclesiastical
causes. It is worthy of note that some churchmen strenu-
ously opposed the first bill on the ground of its injustice,
and that many more opposed the second as an unwarrant-
able invasion of ecclesiastical rights. The Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts refused to
send more missionaries until the latter act should be re-
pealed. The tyranny of the party in power was so rep-
resented to the House of Lords that the queen was ad-
vised to annul these laws. The Board of Trade advised
the annulment of the proprietary charter. The laws were
annulled, and from this time onward it became evident that
the charter would be revoked and that the province would
come under direct royal control. The struggle to secure
this end resulted in a triumph of the people over the lords
proprietors and their representatives as early as 1720,
though the change was not completed until 1729. Thus
was brought to an end the feudalism under which the
colony had long groaned; and while under the new char-
ter the Church of England was the established church and
was supported at the public expense, the toleration of
evangelical forms of Christianity was complete. It is es-
timated that at least two thirds of the population at that
C H AP. V 1 1 1 . ] SCRE I 'EN ' S LA S T DA YS. 2 2 'J
date were dissenters. In 1707 the province was divided
into ecclesiastical parishes, and provision was made for the
erection of a church and for the support of a minister in
each.
Aged, infirm, and possessed of a competency, Screven
laid down the duties of the pastorate in i 706 and retired
to his farm, where Georgetown now stands. He left with
the church as a memento and guide " An Ornament for
Church Members," which was printed after his death. In
conclusion he urged the church to secure with as little de-
lay as possible " an able and faithful minister. Be sure
you take care that the person be orthodox in the faith,
and of blameless life, and does own the Confession of
Faith put forth by our brethren in London, in 1689." But-
his evangelical zeal was too great to allow him to be idle.
We soon find him laboring earnestly in the regions round
about his home. The church secured the services of Mr.
White, an English Baptist minister, who died after a
brief term of service. Screven was just considering an
invitation to the pastorate of the Boston church, but
was constrained to resume his work in Charleston. He
died at his Georgetown home, October 10, 1713, at the
advanced age of eighty-four. He left the church a strong
body, with a membership of nearly a hundred. A large
number of preaching- stations had been estabhshed, and
the negro population, already becoming relatively large,
had doubtless already been brought to a considerable ex-
tent under the influence of the gospel.
The population of the province had increased to about
fifteen thousand, of whom rather more than half were
slaves. The fresh and fertile soil was yielding rich returns
to the application of slave labor, lumber was abundant
and marketable, the sea abounded in valuable fish, and
commercial prosperity gladdened the hearts of the colo-
228 THE BAPTISTS. [Tkr. i.
nists. Culture and refinement went hand in hand with
abundance and leisure, and the foundations were being
laid for the brilliant political and religious history of the
succeeding time, and also, alas! for more recent disasters.
Little beyond his name is known of Sanford, Screven's
successor. Dying about 1718 he was succeeded by Wil-
liam Peartt. During his ten years' pastorate the work of
church extension was carried forward with vigor, and
meeting-houses were built on Edisto Island, on the Ash-
ley River above Charleston, and on Stono, sixteen miles
from the city (Manly, " Two Centuries," p. 94)- He mar-
ried the widow of Paul Grimball, a noted Baptist who
had been secretary to the prince, and a member of Gov-
ernor Archdale's council. This lady was married a third
time and (as Mrs. Smith) left a legacy of ^^1540 to the
Philadelphia Baptist church. Thomas Simmons, an Eng-
lishman who had been ordained in Pennsylvania, was the
next pastor. Under him troubles began, and what had
been a united and prosperous church was so rent asunder
by factions that by 1746 Morgan Edwards found only
three, " one man and two women," " that might be
called a church." In 1733 a schism occurred resulting
in the organization of a General Baptist church. They
secured as pastor a Mr. Ingram from England, and wor-
shiped at Stono, where a meeting-house had been erected
some time before. In the same year Isaac Chanler, an
p:nglish Baptist minister, began laboring in the Ashley
River community, and in 1736 the work had reached such
dimensions that it was thought wise to organize a church
there. This also drew heavily on the mother-church.
The work on Edisto was carried on at this time with con-
siderable success by Mr. Tilly, but no organization seems
to have been effected.
One other church, which was likewise to become the
Chap, viii.] VIRGINIA EXCLUDES DISSENT. 229
mother of churches, was constituted in South Carolina
before the close of this period. In 1737 a company of
Baptists from the Welsh Tract, Pa. (now Delaware), under
the leadership of James James, settled on the Peedee
River, where in 1738 they organized themselves into a
church, afterward known as the Welsh Neck church.
Philip James, a son of the leader, was ordained pastor of
the church in 1743, Isaac Chanler and Thomas Simmons
assisting in the ceremony. The church was organized so
near the close of the period that nothing further need be
here recorded.
The history of Virginia Baptists had barely a beginning
in the present period. Virginia was settled by thorough-
going churchmen. The Church of England was estab-
lished, the support of its ministers amply provided for at the
public expense ; the people were compelled under severe
penalties to participate regularly in the church services
and to subject themselves to catechetical instruction; dis-
senting services of any kind were rigorously prohibited ;
heavy fines were imposed on ship-owners for bringing in
dissenters, and the people were prohibited under heavy
penalties from harboring or in any way favoring them.
In 1642 three Congregational ministers from New Eng-
land attempted to introduce their principles among the
people, but were soon obliged to relinquish their plans
and to leave the colony. About 1648 there were found
to be about one hundred and eighteen dissenters in the
colony, mostly Congregationalists. These were severely
dealt with. The Quakers pressed in with considerable
vigor from 1656 onward. The following act of the as-
sembly (1661—62) applied equally to Baptists and Quak-
ers, though no Baptist is known to have been in Virginia
up to this date: "Whereas, Many schismatical persons,
out of their aversion to the orthodox established religion,
230 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. i.
or out of the newfangled conceits of their own heretical
inventions, refuse to ha\e their children baptized ; Be it
therefore enacted . . . that all persons that, in contempt
of the divine sacrament of baptism, shall refuse when they
may carry their child to a lawful minister in that county, to
have them baptized, shall be amerced two thousand pounds
of tobacco; half to the informer, half to the public."
The provisions of the English Act of Toleration of i68g
were to a great extent inoperative in Virginia for the next
twenty years. From the early years of the eighteenth
century there were a number of scattered Baptists in Vir-
ginia, especially in Isle of Wight County. Some of these
sent an earnest petition to the General Baptists of London
for ministerial help. In response two ministers, Robert
Nordin and Thomas White, were sent out in 1714. The
latter died before reaching Virginia ; the former organized
a church at Burleigh. It is possible that this and other
General Baptist churches had already been gathered be-
fore the arrival of Nordin. Before 1 729 there was also
a church in Surrey County, in close affiliation, it would
seem, with that at Burleigh. Nordin died in 1735. Two
years later two more English Baptist ministers, Casper
Mintz and Richard Jones, came out to carry forward the
work. The church at Burleigh was in a distracted and
unsettled state in 1756 and appealed to the Philadelphia
Association for a visit of brethren to set things in order.
If Baptists appeared in Virginia during the latter part
of the seventeenth century, as Morgan Edwards supposed,
they were probably driven by the severe measures referred
to across the North Carolina border. W^e have no record
of the formation of a church in North Carolina until 1727,
when an organization was effected under the leadership of
Paul Palmer, who had been a member of tlie Welsh Tract
church, and who was a correspondent of John Comer, of
Chap, vni.] EARLY BAPTISTS OF CONNECTICUT. 23 1
Newport. From a letter written by this church to Comer
in 1729, we learn that it was organized in 1727 and con-
sisted of thirty-two members. It was located in Chowan
County, at a place called Perquimans. This was the only
church organized during the present period.
Four churches were organized in Connecticut during
this period, under the influence of the Rhode Island Gen-
eral (Six Principle) Baptists — the first, at Groton in 1705,
through the efforts of Valentine Wightman, of North Kings-
ton, R. I., who became its pastor ; the second, at New Lon-
don in 1726, in connection with the labors of Stephen
Gorton ; the third, in 1735, at Wallingford, of persons who
had been members of the New London church ; the fourth
church to be constituted, and the last during this period,
was the Farmington (now Southington) church. Small
bands of Baptists of the same type appeared in a number
of other places.
There were Mennonites in the New Netherlands (after-
ward New York) as early as 1644. The Dutch colonists
were of the Reformed religion and tolerated sparingly
other forms of worship. The free exercise of religion was
given to the Church of England in 1641, and rehgious
freedom was granted by charter to the town of Flushing
in 1645 ; but unacceptable forms of rehgion intruded them-
selves to such an extent as to cause alarm, and in 1656
conventicles and meetings, public and private, were " ab-
solutely and expressly forbidden." The penalty of preach-
ing, reading, or singing in any " meetings differing from
the customary and legal assemblies " was fixed at one hun-
dred pounds Flemish, and the penalty of being " found in
such meetings" at twenty-five pounds. Lutherans were
numerous and by vigorously protesting were able to se-
cure the right to worship in their own houses. The town
of Flushing insisted on enjoying the provisions of its char-
232
THE BAPTISTS. [Pkk. i.
ter, even to the extent of tolerating Quakers. These spe-
cial privileges were withdrawn from the town by special
ordinance in 1658.
In 1643 Lady Moody, who had adopted antipedobap-
tist views, left Massachusetts, with a number of her friends
and dependents, for Long Island. On her way she spent
some time in New Haven, where she is said to have made
several converts to her views, among them Mrs. Eaton,
the wife of the first governor of the New Haven colony,
and the daughter of an English bishop. Mrs. Eaton gave
much trouble to Pastor John Davenport, who labored ear-
nestly to convince her that " baptism has come in the place
of circumcision, and is to be administered unto infants."
Lady Moody took a patent of land from Governor Kieft
at Gravesend, with the guaranty of "the free liberty of
conscience according to the custom of Holland, without
molestation or disturbance from any magistrate or magis-
trates, or any other ecclesiastical minister that may pretend
jurisdiction over them." A number of other antipedobap-
tists from New England and elsewhere gathered themselves
around Lady Moody, but they do not seem at this time to
have formed themselves into a church. Francis Doughty,
an English antipedobaptist, having incurred persecution at
Lynn and Taunton, Mass., for denying infant baptism, was
the first religious teacher in Flushing. After laboring for
a short period he left for Virginia in 1656. A paper on
" The State of Religion " in the New Netherlands, drawn up
by two Reformed clergymen (Megapolensis and Drissius)
in August, 1657, and addressed to the classis of Amster-
dam, gives a number of interesting facts with reference to
Long Island at this time, which partly confirm and partly
contradict some of the data derived from other sources.
Mennonites are mentioned as being at Gravesend, who
" reject infant baptism, the Sabbath, the office of preacher,
Chap, viii.] WICKEXDEX AT ELUSIUXG. 233
and the teachers of God's word, saying that through these
have come all sorts of contention into the world. When-
ever they come together the one or the other reads some-
thing for them." These so-called Mennonites were prob-
ably identical with Lady Moody and her followers, and
these peculiarities may account for the failure of these
antipedobaptists to organize a regular Baptist church.
The notice about Flushing is highly interesting: "At
Flushing they have had a Presbyterian preacher who
conformed to our Church, but many of them became en-
dowed with divers opinions. . . . They absented them-
selves from preaching, nor would they pay the preacher
his promised stipend. The said preacher was obliged to
leave and repair to the English Virginias." This preacher
can scarcely be other than Francis Doughty, whose anti-
pedobaptist views seem abundantly attested. The docu-
ment continues: "Last year [1656] a fomenter of evil
came there. He was a cobbler from Rhode Island . . .
and stated that he was commissioned by Christ. He began
to preach at Flushing, and then went with the people
into the river and dipped them. This becoming known
here, the constable proceeded thither and brought him along.
He was banished the province." According to the con-
temporary public records this "cobbler" was none other
than the distinguished William Wickenden, pastor of the
Providence church. Li November, 1656, William Hallett,
sheriff of Flushing, was arraigned before the authorities for
having " dared to collect conventicles in his house, and
to permit one William Wickendam [Wickenden] to ex-
plain and comment on God's Holy Word, and to adminis-
ter sacraments, though not called thereto by any civil or
clerical authority " ; also for having assisted at such meet-
ings, and " accepted from the said Wickendam's hands
the bread in the form and manner the Lord's Supper is
2 34 THE BAPTISTS. [I'kk. i.
usually celebrated." Hallett was deprived of his office
and fined fifty pounds. Wickenden was fined one hun-
dred pounds and banished. He was sentenced to " re-
main a prisoner till the fine and cost of the process shall
be paid." When it was ascertained that he was too poor
to pay the fine he was allowed to depart, with the threat
of imprisonment till fine and costs should be paid in case
he should return.
A still more stringent ordinance was enacted in 1662,
providing for a fine of fifty guldens for being present at
an unauthorized religious meeting, with a doubling of the
fine for the second ofifense, a quadrupling for the third,
"and arbitrary punishment besides." The stringency of
the law would seem to indicate that the evils forefended
were becoming alarming.
About 17 1 1 Nicholas Eyres, a well-educated brewer of
New York, invited Valentine Wightman, of Groton, Conn.,
one of the most noted General Baptist ministers of the
time, to New York, and opened his house on Broad Street
for religious services. Wightman seems for years to have
visited the city from time to time. In 17 14 Eyres and a
number of others were baptized by Wightman. It was
the advice of some that the baptismal service should be
private for fear of the mob ; but Eyres insisted that it
should be public, referring to the New Testament words :
" No man doeth anything in secret, and he himself seek-
eth to be known openly." He waited on Governor Bur-
net (son of the famous bishop) and asked for police pro-
tection. This was cheerfully granted. The governor
graced the occasion with his presence and is said to
have remarked after the baptismal service was over :
" This was the ancient manner of baptizing, and is, in
my opinion, much preferable to the practice of modern
times." In 1715 Eyres's house was licensed as a Baptist
Chap, viii.] FIRST CIIUKCil-ES OF NEW YORK. 235
meeting-house. In 1720 he hired a separate meeting-
house and in 1721 received a permit to preach, under the
Toleration Act, from Governor Burnet, which begins:
" Whereas, Mr. Nich. Eyres, brewer, a freeman, and inhab-
itant of the City of New York, pretending to be at present
a teacher or preacher of a congregation of Anabaptists,
which has had its beginning about five years ago within
this city and has so continued hitherto." The recognition
of the church and the ordination of the pastor seem not
to have taken place till 1724, when Valentine Wightman,
of Groton, and Daniel Wightman, of Newport, visited New
York for these purposes. In 1728 a lot was purchased
and a meeting-house erected. Considerable aid was re-
ceived from the Rhode Island Baptists, but a cru.shing
debt was incurred. This, combined with doctrinal dishar-
mony, almost wrecked the church in 1730. According to
Eyres, who left New York in 1731 to become joint pastor
with Wightman of the Six Principle church of Newport,
" some of them deserted under a pretense of love to the
principles of absolute election and predestination." The
church languished and became extinct before the close of
the period.
About sixteen Baptist families settled on Block Island in
1663 and without formal organization maintained reHgious
services until 1772, when a Baptist church was organized,
the only church that has ever existed on the island.
About 1700 William Rhodes, a Baptist minister, ap-
peared at Oyster Bay, Long Island, and a number were
converted through his ministry and probably baptized by
him. Some time afterward (the date does not appear to
be ascertainable) a church was organized with the aid of
elders from Rhode Island (probably General Baptists), and
in 1724 Robert Peeks, a member of the church, was or-
dained as its pastor.
PERIOD II.
FROM THE GREAT AV/AKENING TO THE
ORGANIZATION OF THE TRIENNIAL
CONVENTION (1740-1814).
237
CHAPTER I.
NEW ENGLAND.!
The preceding period closed with Baptist churches
somewliat firmly rooted in Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and South Caro-
lina, and with feeble churches in Connecticut, New York,
Virginia, and North Carolina. While the first Baptist
churches of America were strongly Calvinistic, Arminian-
ism had proved far more popular. The First Church of
Providence soon became Arminian, and Arminian Baptist
churches multiplied in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and
Connecticut. The first Baptist church of South Carolina
had been almost wrecked by Arminianism. In Virginia,
North Carolina, and New York the Arminian type of
teaching prevailed. The First Church of Boston was con-
siderably shaken by Arminianism about i 740. Calvinism
had secured almost undisputed control in the churches
of the Philadelphia Association, and the vigor of religious
and denominational life in these churches augured well for
the future predominance of this type of Baptist teaching.
The rapid spread of a Socinianized Arminianism was by
no means confined to the Baptists nor to America. In
England a cold intellectualism was becoming widely prev-
1 See Backus, " Hist." and " Tracts "' ; Hovey ; Guild, " Chaplain Smith "
and "James Manning"; Callender ; Comer; Jonathan Edwards; Tracy;
Trumbull; Denison ; Chauncy ; Whitcfield, " Journals " ; Stewart, "Free-
Will Baptists," vol. i. ; "Cent. Rec. Fr.-W. Baptists"; A.splund; Bene-
dict; True; and Barrows.
239
240 THE BAPTISTS. [Pek. n.
alent alike in the established church and in the dissenting
denominations. The Presbyterians of England were pre-
paring to transfer their membership, buildings, and endow-
ments to Unitarianism. The General Baptist churches
had dwindled under the blighting influence of Socinianism
till those who could by any stretch of charity be regarded
as confessing the deity of Christ numbered only a few
hundreds; while the evangelistic zeal of the English Par-
ticular Baptists had given place to a type of hyper- Calvin-
ism that looked upon evangelistic effort as an impertinence.
In New England the decline in religious zeal and in the
average purity of religious life had from the middle of the
seventeenth century been rapid and general. The Half-
way Covenant of 1662, which relaxed the rigorous restric-
tion of church and ci\il privileges to the regenerate by
admitting to baptism the children of moral and orthodox
persons who laid no claim to personal regeneration, was
symptomatic of the decline of religious zeal and fervor,
and promoted still fiu'ther decline. In a great majority
of the churches of the standing order the owning of the
covenant became a mere formality, and all the privileges
of church-membership were thrown open to those who
made no profession of conversion. Under such circum-
stances it was natural that experimental religion should be
greatly neglected. The lowering of the standard of full
church-membership inevitably resulted in the lowering of
the standard of admission to the ministr}'. Far greater
stress came to be laid upon intellectual training than upon
a personal experience of divine grace, and if to suitable
education doctrinal soundness and a life free from scandal
were added, no question was likely to be raised as to the
fitness of the candidate for ordination. Many good men
of the standing order bewailed the secularization of the
churches and sought in vain for remedies. Among other
CiiA?. I.] THE GREAT AWAKEXING. 24I
devices was the attempt to introduce a Presbyterian dis-
cipline. Increase Mather declared (about 1705) that
" the Congregational church discipline is not suited for
a worldly interest, or for a formal generation of professors.
It will stand or fall as godliness in the power of it does
prevail or otherwise." With almost prophetic insight he
added : " If the begun apostasy should proceed as fast the
next thirty years as it has done these last, surely it will
come to pass in New England (except the Gospel itself
depart with the order of it) that the most conscientious
people therein will think themselves concerned to gather
churches out of churches." The begun apostasy con-
tinued, and in something less tlian fifty years the process
of gathering churches out of churches was going rapidly
forward.
It does not fall within the scope of the present work to
give a full account of the Great Awakening in New Eng-
land and the similar movement in England, commonly
designated the Evangelical Revival, led in America by
Whitefield, Edwards, the Tennents, and others, and in
England by the Wesleys, Whitefield, and others. The
revival may be said to have begun in America in con-
nection with Jonathan Edwards's labors as pastor of the
church at Northampton, Mass., in 1734. For years this
community was in such a state of religious fervor and ac-
tivity that scarcely an indixidual escaped the influence of
Christian teaching and large numbers experienced inner
renewing. From Northampton the movement spread
rapidly throughout New England. At about the same
time Gilbert Tennent began to agitate in the Presbyterian
Synod of Philadelphia for the requirement of evidences of
experimental religion in candidates for the ministry. In
1727, William Tennent, his father, had founded the " Log
College" for the education of ministers, and had by this
242 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
time impressed with evangelistic zeal a large body of
young men. The controversy as to the relative stress
that should be laid on vital godliness and on education
in candidates for the ministry cannot here be followed up.
But those who gathered themselves around the Tennents,
and who laid chief stress on vital godliness, were able, not-
withstanding much bitter opposition, to stir the religious
life of the middle colonies to its depths.
Whitefield began his American evangelistic labors in the
South (1637), and extended them to the middle and New
England colonies (1740-41, etc.), preaching with marvel-
ous frequency ^ and with irresistible power to immense
audiences. Whitefield's New England tour was followed
by a like visit from Gilbert Tennent in 1741. Side by
side with these great evangelists a large number of highly
gifted and enthusiastic men were soon engaged in bringing
the gospel message to bear upon the masses of the people
throughout the colonies. Scarcely a community wholly
escaped the influence of the revival. There are few in-
stances in history of transformations of religious life so
profound and so widespread during so short a period.
The revival probably reached its climax about 1741, but
for many years afterward the work was carried forward
with zeal and success. The prevailing type of preaching
that underlay the revival was Calvinistic. No point in the
Christian system was more dwelt upon than the necessity
of regeneration by the Holy Spirit.
Arminianism in insidious forms had so increased by the
beginning of the revival as to cause alarm to the main-
tainers of the old orthodoxy. Edwards relates th.at in the
early stages of the revival at Northampton this was one of
the influences that led men to seek salvation. It was feared
1 He preached one hundred and seventy-five times in seventy-five days
in 1740.
CiiAP. I.] THE XEIV LIGHTS. 243
that with the spread of Arminianism the Spirit of God would
be withdrawn from the land, and that the opportunity for
securing salvation would be past. No doubt Edwards
himself encouraged this view. It may be readily con-
ceived that this extraordinary awakening was not accom-
plished without arousing the sharpest antagonism on the
part of ministers and others who had become imbued with
Socinian ideas, and who regarded any manifestation of
enthusiasm in connection with religion as savoring of
fanaticism.
The New England Baptists, as a rule, held aloof from
the revival movement during its early stages. This was
due to the fact that the great majority of their churches
were Arminian and could not sympathize with the Cal-
vinistic character of the movement ; and partly to the fact
that having been so unkindly treated by the standing order
they felt a natural antipathy to entering into intimate rela-
tions with its members and ministers.
The controversies between the New Lights, as the re-
vival party came to be called, and the opponents of the
revival were prolonged and bitter. It will not be practi-
cable to enter into the details of the controversies and of
the legal enactments against the New Lights. In many
of the churches the pastor and a majority of the mem-
bers opposed the revival and refused to admit the revival
preachers, while a minority were enthusiastic New Lights
and regarded this opposition as a fighting against God.
Denunciatory language on both sides generally resulted
in the withdrawal of the New Lights and the organization
of churches of the regenerate.
The opponents of the revival objected strongly to lay
evangelization, which became a prominent feature of the
New Light movement, and to the unauthorized invasion
of parishes by itinerant preachers. The New Lights, it
244 ^^^^ BArrjsrs. [Pkr. n.
need scarcely be said, were not always blameless in their
treatment of the opposing party. They sometimes under-
took, in an uncharitable spirit, to sit in judgment on those
who refused to fall into line with their work. They had
a definite idea of the kind of religious experience that
each individual should have, and they were loath to recog-
nize any one as truly con\erted who had not experienced
a larije measure of emotional excitement. Yet with all
their extravagances the New Lights unquestionably stood
for vital godliness and aggressive Christianity, while those
who opposed them put themselves in the path of a great
work of reformation and prepared the way for the Unita-
rian defection of the later time.
Strenuous laws were enacted in Connecticut against the
formation of churches without the permission of the au-
thorities and against unauthorized preaching. A number
of godly ministers were imprisoned, fined, and expelled
from the country ; and members of New Light churches
were taxed for the support of the standing churches and
imprisoned for refusing to pay. Unauthorized schools
and colleges were prohibited, and only university gradu-
ates were allowed to receive support under the laws. A
number of students were expelled from Yale College in
1 744 for favoring the New Light party. The president
of Harvard College, who in 1741 had commended White-
field and Tennent as "pious and valuable men of God,"
"greatly instrumental in the hand of God to revive this
blessed work," joined with his colleagues in 1745, on the
occasion of Whitefield's second tour in New England, in
publishing a declaration against him. Whitefield had set
the example of denouncing the unconverted ministers who
opposed the revival, and was held responsible for the strife
and schism that had by this time become alarming.
As these Separate churches made unregenerate church-
Chap, i.] SEPARATES BECOME BAPTISTS. 245
membership one of the chief points of their protest, it
might have been expected that the incompatibihty of this
position with the retention of infant baptism would soon
become evident. Of the thirty-one ministers who were
ordained as pastors of Separate churches from 1 646 to 1 65 i ,
five were Baptists before they were ordained and eight
became Baptists soon afterward. Among the latter was
Isaac Backus, who was to become the most important
Baptist leader and polemicist of the period.
In 1 745 a Separate church was formed at Mansfield,
Conn., amid much persecution. A number of antipedo-
baptists were among the constituent members. In their
covenant it is stated : " Though most of us agree in the
article of infant baptism, yet a difTerence in that particular
doth not break the spiritual communion of saints ; there-
fore it is no just bar to our covenanting and partaking of
the ordinances together, wherein we are agreed." It is
probable that Baptists soon appeared in all or nearly all
of the Separate societies, and it was fondly hoped that the
New Light bond would suffice to hold pedobaptists and
antipedobaptists together in fellowship and peace; but
it is in the nature of antipedobaptist convictions to grow
stronger and stronger with time and reflection, and those
who became convinced that infant baptism was not only
non-Scriptural, but a lamentable perversion of Scripture
teaching, soon came to feel that a serious compromise of
principle was involved in their continuance in fellowship
w^ith those who were involved in this error. The first
large accession to the Baptist ranks from this source oc-
curred at Sturbridge, Mass. (June, 1749). when Elder
Moulton baptized thirteen members of the Separate church,
including a deacon. The pastor, John Blunt, all the re-
maining officers, and most of the members, amounting to
over sixty, soon followed. In the words of one who par-
246 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
ticipated in this movement, " Infant sprinkling, which we
called baptism, went aw^ay like the chaff of the summer
threshing-floor." Having baptized nearly a hundred be-
lievers. Blunt had by 1753 abandoned his antipedobaptist
views and was seeking to restore the practice of infant
baptism in the church. The church admonished him and
called a council of Separate churches, which sustained its
admonition and declared that the pastor had broken cove-
nant. Although the members of the church made dili-
"ent efforts to avail themselves of the exemption afforded
by the law to Baptist churches, they were taxed for two
years to support the standing order, and such as refused
to pay had- their goods seized and sacrificed or were
thrown into prison. They finally appealed to the Supe-
rior Court, which decided in their favor.
Irritated by the increase of the Baptists and their
firmness in maintaining their rights, the legislature, in
1752, amended the exemption law so as to make it far
more burdensome. It was enacted that the certificates of
members should be signed by the minister with two prin-
cipal members of the Baptist church, and that no minister
or church should have power to give lawful certificates
until they should have secured " from three other churches,
commonly called Anabaptist, a certificate from each re-
spectively, that they esteem such church to be of their
denomination, and that they conscientiously beheve them
to be Anabaptists." As the Separate churches w^ere not
at first in communion with the older Baptist churches,
and as Baptist churches were not numerous, it was by no
means easy to secure such certificates ; while the require-
ment that they should have themselves certificated as
"Anabaptists " involved an insult of the gravest character.
A woman named Esther White was imprisoned at Taunton
from February, 1752, till March, 1753, for refusing to pay
Chap, i.] ISAAC BACKUS. 247
a clerical tax of eightpence. She soon afterward became
a Baptist. A Separate church at Framingham, organized
in 1747, formed the nucleus of a Baptist church, which,
however, was not constituted until many years later.
At Norwich, Conn., the mother of Isaac Backus and
several other members of the Separate church v/ere im-
prisoned for refusal to pay clerical taxes. " But," writes
Backus himself, who was in the midst of this great con-
flict, " the more they oppressed them the more they grew."
The Separate congregation soon doubled.
The case of Isaac Backus is one of extraordinary inter-
est and must be narrated at some length. It well illus-
trates the working out of the principles involved in this
movement. Born in 1724, of ancestry that represented
what was best in the Congregational life of Connecticut,
he was brought to a saving knowledge of the truth in
connection with revival meetings held in his native town
in I 74 1. Owing to his excellent religious education he
did not experience so great a degree of emotional excite-
ment as did many of his contemporaries. In 1 742 he
united with the church of his fathers and remained a
member for two years. But the decision of the church
" to admit communicants by a major vote, without giving
the church so much as a written relation of any inward
change " ; the disposition of the pastor to regard the Sup-
per as a converting ordinance, and his " strong affection
for the Saybrook scheme," which embodied some of the
most objectionable features of state-church Prcsbyterian-
ism and which the church had rejected under the influ-
ence of Joseph Backus, his grandfather; and the persecu-
tion of New Lights in various parts of the country, led
him, along with twenty- nine other male members and a
large number of females, to withdraw and form a Separate
church. Among the Separates were one deacon and a
248 THE BAPTISTS. [I'kr. ii.
number of the wealthiest and most influential people of
the town. They soon came to outnumber the original
church, but by a strange perversion of justice they were
taxed and distressed for the support of its pastor. Dur-
ing a single year as many as forty persons, including a
number of women, were imprisoned. The main points of
contention on the part of the Separates were the restric-
tion of the Supper to the regenerate, the application of
church discipline so as to secure churches of the regen-
erate, and the independence of the local church, with the
right to call and ordain its own officers.
As a result of a revival in Titicut, near Middleborough,
Mass., the New Lights had withdrawn from the established
church in December, i 747. Backus, who had shortly be-
fore decided to give himself to the gospel ministry, hap-
pened a few days afterward to pass that way and was
" prevailed with to tarry and preach among them." The
"precinct committee" urged him to take steps for be-
coming the legal pastor of the church, but he had become
convinced of the iniquity of any union of church and state.
A revival resulted in about twenty conversions. A church
was formed in February following, " which increased to
threescore in ten months." Backus and his flock were
taxed and harassed, but they were resolved, come what
might, to adhere to their principles.
Disputes about baptism were introduced into the Titicut
church in August, i 749. Backus was brought suddenly
to feel " that the Baptist way is certainly right, because
nature fights so against it. And he was hurried on to
preach it up the next day ; which caused confusion among
the hearers, and returned with a horrible gloom over his
own mind ; and he was turned back to his former practice."
In September, during his absence in Massachusetts and
Rhode Island, where he seems to have been seeking con-
Chap, i.] BACA'i'S BECOMES A BAPTIST. 249
firmation in his pedobaptist \-ie\vs, Elder Moulton had
visited his people " and had plunged some of them " —
nine, as Backus elsewhere mentions. These had been
offended by Backus's return to the advocacy of infant
baptism, and now withdrew from the church and inaug-
urated a meeting of their own. Backus was no doubt
greatly annoyed. He expressed his sorrow for preaching
against infant baptism, and declared that he was willing to
venture into eternity on that practice. But anxiety soon
returned. He was led a few months later to inquire,
" Where is it, and in what relation to the church do those
stand who are baptized but not converted? " A body of
fanatical New Lights in Easton and Norton, Mass., had
just adopted belie\'ers' baptism, and had proceeded in an
unseemly way to baptize one another and had otherwise
acted in a disorderly manner. The natural tendency of
these facts would ha\-e been to deter Backus from reopen-
ing the question. But he finally determined to " lea\'e
good men and bad men out of the question, and inquire.
What saith the Scripture?'' Hereby a settlement was
granted, and he was baptized August 22, i 75 i, " along with
six members " of his church, by Elder Benjamin Pierce, of
Warwick. This step involved deep humiliation ; but the
voice of conscience had become imperative. Lamentable
discord naturally attended these events. A council of New
Light churches was called (October, 1751). Sixteen were
found, of whom three were Baptists, " willing to renew
their covenant and go on together." These were recog-
nized as the church and the rest were censured. Backus
was censured and excommunicated, but was restored to
fellowship and the pastorate in November following. Two
of the sixteen insisted that Backus should baptize infants,
and on his refusal broke off communion with the church.
They were finally censured and excommunicated. In the
250 THE BAPTISTS. [Pkr. ii.
meantime five Baptists refused communion and were cen-
sured. A council was called (No\ember, 1752) in the in-
terest of the two excommunicated pedobaptists, consist-
ing of three of the churches of the former council. The
two brethren were justified, and the majority, including-
the pastor, censured. A general meeting of New Light
churches, in which twenty-seven congregations were rep-
resented, was held at Exeter (May, 1753) to adjust the
difficulties of the Titicut church and to determine the pol-
icy to be pursued in like controversies already imminent
elsewhere. It was " unanimously agreed that a turning
to or from infant baptism was not a censurable evil ; but
that each should leave the other with God, according to
Phil. iii. 15." The meeting arranged for a council to meet
at Middleborough in July for the harmonizing of the con-
tending elements in the church. The censures of the
pedobaptist and the Baptist members were revoked and
the church was again received into fellowship.
Solomon Paine, one of the leading Separate ministers,
had refused to take part in the Exeter meeting. This was
regarded as a grievance by Stephen Babcock, a leading
antipedobaptist Separate minister, who, moreover, criti-
cised Paine's attitude toward the Baptists in the ex-parte
council of November, 1752. This irritation led to the
calling of a meeting of representatives of all the Separate
churches. The meeting was held at Stonington in May,
1754. Forty churches were represented. The result was
even less satisfactory to the Baptists, a majority having
pronounced in favor of the decision of the cx-partc council
of November, 1752. Pedobaptist leaders like Paine began
to express the opinion that while those who confessed
themselves to be in darkness with reference to infant bap-
tism were to be tolerated, those who had reached the con-
viction that it was wrong should be censured. It began
Chap. I.] A MIXED CHURCH. 25 I
to be evident to Baptists and pedobaptists alike that a
breach was inevitable. So thorough was the agreement
of Baptist and pedobaptist Separates in their views of
doctrine and life, and so closely had they been united
through their common sufferings on behalf of a converted
ministry and membership, that they regarded a sundering
of communion as a calamity. The fact that it would
weaken the cause in the face of bitter opposition was
manifest to all.
Backus and his church attempted to follow the policy
of mutual toleration of each other's views for or against
infant baptism. " But when some pious members mani-
fested a belief of duty to be buried in baptism, others re-
fused to go to the water to see it done, because, in their
view, they were already baptized, and to repeat it would
be taking the sacred name in vain. And when an elder
came and sprinkled some infants, the Baptists felt a like
difficulty, though thty did not leave the meeting where it
was done. Being unwilling to part, attempts were made
to convince each other, which led into warm debates. . . .
Thus edification, the great end of Christian society, was
marred instead of being promoted, by that which is called
large communion. It was so far from ansv/ering to that
name, that, with their utmost endeavors, the author
[Backus] and his brethren could never arrive at com-
munion in the ordinance of the Supper, from September,
1754, to the end of 1755." By the beginning of 1756
Backus and a number of his brethren became convinced
" that truth limits church commamion to believers, bap-
tized upon a profession of their own faith." On January
16, 1756, with the assistance of representatives of the Bos-
ton and Rehoboth churches, a Baptist church was organized
at Middleborough, of which Backus was to remain pastor
for fifty 3'ears.
252 THE BAP'J'IS'JS. [I'kk. ii.
Backus was abundant in labors. The doctrines of the
Separates in general and of the Baptists in particular con-
tinued to be bitterly attacked. He was the chief Baptist
champion of these principles, and his polemical tracts con-
stitute a noble body of writings. His defense of the pe-
culiar principles of the Baptists was as able as any that the
eighteenth century afforded. He wrote much in behalf of
liberty of conscience and against the support of the min-
istry by taxation. He was ever on the alert to protest
against anything that savored of persecution, and no man
did more during the latter half of the eighteenth century
for the promotion oi ci\il and religious liberty in New
England. His services in agitating for the abolition of the
unjust ecclesiastical laws of Massachusetts will be consid-
ered in another chapter. He was among the foremost of
the Baptists in seeing the need of an educated ministry,
and was a warm friend oi Rhode Island College.
A second Baptist church was organized in Middle-
borough in 1758 and a third in 1761, both at a consider-
able distance from the first, and Baptist principles were
profoundly impressed upon the community. During his
entire ministry Backus traveled much in the interest of the
cause throughout the New England States, and the rapid
growth of the denomination was due, in a considerable
measure, to his influence. He spent much time during
his later years in collecting" and arranging materials for a
history of the Baptists in New England, and the denomi-
nation is deeply indebted to him for the in\aluable serxice
that he rendered in this direction.
Wise in counsel, fervent in evangelistic zeal, systematic
and industrious in his pastoral and in his literary work,
ever on the alert to defend his denomination from unjust
attacks, charitable toward his opponents and toward all,
he finished his course with J03- in No\ember, iSC^, ha\ing
CiiAi'. I.] FIRST CIIi'RCn, FROVIDE.XCE. 253
lived eight3/-t\vo years and ten months, and having served
in the gospel ministry over sixty years.
It will be interesting to glance at the history of the older
New England churches during this period. The First
Church in Providence had become Arminian, an.d had, in
1652, made the laying on of hands a condition of commun-
ion. Controversy in 1731—32 had resulted in the triumph
of an extreme party which made communion, even in
prayer, with those who had not passed under hands a
matter of discipline, and which held that " all those who
took anything for preaching were like Simon Magus."
The leader of this party was Samuel Winsor. He was
opposed by Governor Jenckes, James Brown, and others.
The church was divided, but Winsor became the pastor of
the principal part in 1732. He continued in office until
his death, in 1758, and was succeeded by his son, who did
little for the advancement of the cause. The church had de-
generated into a narrow sectarianism that caused it to hold
ri-gorously aloof from the great revival movement, and
during these years was more dead than alive. The open-
ing of Rhode Island College in Providence, with James
Manning as president, in 1770, marks the beginning of a
new era in the history of this unfortunate church. Man-
ning was born in EHzabethtown, N. J., October 22, 1738.
In 1762 he had been graduated from Princeton College,
and in the following year he had been ordained by the
EHzabethtown church as an itinerant minister. He had
been selected by his brethren of the Philadelphia Associa-
tion to lead in founding a Baptist educational institution in
Rhode Island. It was decided to begin work at Warren,
where a generous support was offered him by a band of
Baptists whose membership was in the Swansea church.
Thither he went in the summer of i 764, and in October a
church was organized, which prospered under his minis-
254
THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
try. The college and its president removed to Providence
in 1770. He was from time to time invited by the church
to preach, and joined with its members in the breaking of
bread. This was contrary to the principles of Elder Win-
sor and some others, as it had come to be known that
Manning did not consider the laying on of hands obliga-
tory, and that he favored congregational singing. A large
majority of the church desired his services, and when Win-
sor and his adherents had withdrawn and formed a sepa-
rate congregation (1771), Manning was invited to preach
regularly and to administer the ordinances. Backus informs
us that " though his powers of mind and human accom-
plishments were very great, yet he used great plainness
of speech, and was as easily understood by the common
people as almost any preacher in the land. And few men
ever prized the special influence of the Spirit of God in
preaching, more than he did." A visit to the Philadel-
phia Association in 1774, where he heard the unlearned
but eloquent and zealous Daniel Fristoe, of Virginia,
kindled afresh his zeal and courage. Before the close
of 1775 he had baptized into the Providence church one
hundred and ten converts, and a number of those who
had been converted in his meetings had united with the
New Light church under Mr. Snow. Thus the church
was brought into the front rank of Baptist churches, a posi-
tion that it has held to the present time. A meeting-house
costing about ^7000 was erected in 1775, one of the pur-
poses specified being " to hold commencement in." A
Charitable Society was organized in 1774 and was char-
tered by the General Assembly. The value of so well or-
ganized and eflficient a church, under a model leader like
Manning, at the educational center of the denomination,
cannot be overestimated. Manning never considered him-
self pastor of the church, but served it with considerable
Chap, i.] FIRST CHURCH, XElVPORr. 255
regularity till 1786 and occasionally afterward. Under
Stephen Gano, a nephew of President Manning, who served
the church from 1792 till his death in 1828, the prosperity
of the church was continued, one hundred and sixty-five
members having been added as a result of a revival near
the beginning of his ministry.
There is less of interest in the history of the First Church
of Newport during this period. Callender continued pastor
till his death in i 748. Unfortunately, he strongly opposed
the revival, regarding Whitefield as a second George Fox.
The church seems to have enjoyed no extensive work of
grace till the present century. Pr(3bably the ablest pastor
after Callender was Benjamin Foster, a graduate of Yale in
I 774. While in college he was appointed to defend infant
baptism in a public debate. The result of his industrious
search for arguments was a failure to find any that satis-
fied him. He studied theology under Samuel Stillman,
of Boston, and became one of the ablest theologians that
the denomination possessed. His stay in Newport was
brief (1785-88). His acceptance of a call to New York
was strongly opposed by the church. Like some other of
the older churches, this church for some time held aloof
from the Warren Association (organized in 1767), and
having afterward united with it subsequently withdrew.
This attitude of the church may have been due, on the
one hand, to extreme regard for church independency, and,
on the other, to imperfect sympathy with the New Light
Baptists, who were leaders in this and every other aggress-
ive and progressive measure.
It may be interesting to note that this church was one
of the first to introduce instrumental music The instru-
ment was a bass viol and caused considerable commotion.
This occurred early in the present century.
The First Baptist Church of Boston was also, unfortu-
256 ■ THE BAPTISTS. [Per. il.
nately, on the wrong side in relation to the revival. The
pastor, Jeremy Condy (1739-65), was a Harvard graduate
and a pronounced Arminian. He claimed, in 1742, that
even if he should preach election it would offend the ma-
jority of the church. This fact, together with the opposi-
tion of the pastor and a majority of the members to the
revival, led to the withdrawal of a number of the most
zealous and progressi\-e members and the organization of
a second church, Calvinistic in doctrine and sympathetic
with the New Light movement. The disaffected element
sent to the church a somewhat elaborate statement of the
grounds of their dissatisfaction and of the terms on which
they would remain in the church. They represent the
pastor as holding general redemption, being a free-wilier,
holding to falling from grace, and denying original sin.
" We mean by his denying original sin, that he softens,
moderates, and explains away the guilt, malignity, corrup-
tion, and depravity of human nature exactly as the high
Arminian clergy forever do. . . . Whenever we have
heard him discourse on the new birth, his sermons were
so ill grounded, so intermixed with man's free-will agency,
and so widely different from what our Lord taught and
intended thereby, that we cannot avoid questioning whether
he ever experienced the saving operation of that most im-
portant doctrine in his own soul. We were sufficiently
affrighted at a declaration in one of his sermons, that
Christians cannot know or distinguish the operation of the
Spirit of God upon their souls from the operation of their
own minds. This assertion we look upon to be of the
most dangerous tendency." The First Church remained
in a languishing condition until Samuel Stillman became
pastor, in 1765. Stillman was a native of Philadelphia
(born 1737). He had received a good classical education,
and had been trained for the ministry by Oliver Hart,
CiiAi'. I.J SECOND CHURCH, BOSTON. 257
pastor of the First Baptist Church of Charleston, S. C.
He was ordained as an evangeHst by this church in 1759.
He was one of the most amiable, eloquent, and useful min-
isters of his time. For forty years he ministered in Bos-
ton, and it is said that no stranger visiting the city failed
to hear him. A revival began in i 769, and in three years
eighty members were added, more than doubling the mem-
bership. The church was much scattered during the war,
but in I 785 the pastor returned to his post, and through
revivals in this year and in 1 790 large numbers were added.
The leaders in the Second Church (organized in i 743)
were James Bound, John Dabney, Thomas Boucher, and
John Proctor. Ephraim Bound, then a young man, be-
came pastor. There was considerable difficulty in making
arrangements for his ordination, as most of the Baptist
churches were opposed to the revival. It was decided to
seek the assistance of Elder Valentine Wightman, of Gro-
ton. Conn., who, though he had been for many years affili-
ated with the General (Six Principle) Baptists, had entered
heartily into the revival movement and was understood to
hold to the doctrines of grace. It is interesting to note
that Dr. John Gill, the famous English Baptist dix^ine, sent
the new church a communion service, baptismal robes, and
a number of books. The church prospered under the min-
istry of Bound until the pastor was stricken by parah'sis
in I 762, when it had reached a membership of one hundred
and twenty.
The Swansea and Rehoboth churches held resolutely
aloof from the New Light movement and for years would
enter into no relations with the Separate Baptists. In 1 754
some Baptist ministers from New Jerse)' visited them and
sought, with some effect, to remove their prejudices against
their New Light brethren. It w;is not until i 7/ 1 that these
churches threw off their lethargy and entered heartily into
258 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
the revival movement. Several hundred were added to
the churches at this time. An even greater work of grace
covered these communities in 1780, when singing was in-
troduced into the Second Swansea Church. As a result
of the great ingathering of 1771, and the close sympathy
into which the Baptists were brought with their pedobaptist
New Light brethren, a church was formed in Rehoboth
under the leadership of Jacob Hicks, which held that bap-
tism by immersion ought not to be made a term of com-
munion. By the close of the century the practice of this
church had come into substantial harmony with that of the
Baptist churches in general.
Under the influence of a baptized evangelist named
Elhanan Winchester, members of a Separate Congrega-
tional church in Rehoboth formed an open-communion
society in 1771. Winchester was ordained as pastor, but
soon afterward became convinced of the inconsistency of
the position he had assumed, and declared that he could
no more administer the Supper to any who were only
sprinkled in infancy. The church censured and dismissed
him. It was nearly extinct at the close of the last century.
Winchester became a chief leader in the Universalist move-
ment. A third open-communion church was formed on
the north border of Rehoboth in 1777. This also had
grown very feeble within twenty years of its organization.
These are by no means all of the Baptist churches that
were constituted in Swansea and Rehoboth during this
period. The tendency to disunion on matters of minor
importance was more marked here than elsewhere. This
may have been due to the fact that the community never
enjoyed the services of a great Baptist leader.
The Haverhill, Mass., church deserves to be specially
mentioned on account of the distinguished services of its
founder and pastor, the influential position that it came to
Chap, i.] HEZEKIAH SMITH. 259
occupy as one of the most progressive churches in the de-
nomination, and the completeness with which it ilhistrates
the sufiferings and the triumphs of Baptists during this
period. Hezekiah Smith was born in Hampstead, L. I.,
April, 1737. In 1756 he was baptized into the fellow-
ship of the Morristown, N. J., church by John Gano, who
was to become one of the most distinguished ministers
of his time. After preparatory studies at the Hopewell
(Baptist) Academy, he pursued a full course of study at
Princeton, where, along with James Manning, he was grad-
uated in September, i 762. Shortly after his graduation he
started southward on an evangelistic tour, preaching in all
the intervening colonies with great acceptance and success,
and for some time making Charleston, S. C, his head-
quarters. He became a member of the Charleston church
and by it was ordained to the work of the ministry (Sep-
tember, 1763). The decision of Manning to engage in
educational work in Rhode Island seems to have deter-
mined him, providence favoring, to make New England
the center of his evangelistic labors. After visiting and
preaching in a number of communities, including Boston,
where he formed the acquaintance of Stillman, who also
had within a few months come from South Carolina, he
visited several townships on the Merrimac, including
Haverhill. Most of the ministers of this region had op-
posed the revival, and the New Light doctrine had made
little impression. A bitter controversy had occurred in the
West Parish of Haverhill between the pastor and his people,
and had resulted in his exclusion from the meeting-house
and finally in his dismission. For years the church had
been pastorless, and the meeting-house was gladly thrown
open to the eloquent evangelist. Here he preached for
several months, and evangelized meanwhile through sev-
eral neighboring townships, He did not proclaim himself
26o THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
a Baptist until such pressure was brought to bear upon him
to induce him to accept the vacant pastorate that he felt
compelled to explain his position. The effect of this dec-
laration was to cool the ardor of his pedobaptist admirers
and to arouse a bitterness of opposition that has few par-
allels even in Massachusetts. But a considerable number,
including some of the wealthiest and most influential mem-
bers of the community, accepted his views of baptism and
entreated him to remain and lead in the founding of a
Baptist church. He continued to labor and soon began to
baptize ; but even after a generous salary had been voted
him he hesitated for many months to accept the pastorate.
The church was organized in May, 1665, and in less than
three years had one hundred members. Every precaution
was taken to secure for the members the exemption that
the law afforded. In company with representatives of the
church, Smith made hurried visits to Boston, Warren, and
Middleborough soon after the organization of the church,
to secure from the Baptist pastors the certificates that tlie
new church was "Anabaptist," and having succeeded lost
no time in furnishing individual certificates to those of
the "Anabaptist persuasion," signed by himself and " two
principal members of the church." For years the church
suffered greatly from the unfriendliness of tlie local au-
thorities, who made it as difficult as possible for Baptists
to avail themselves of the exemption law.
During Smith's pastorate of forty-one years his labors
were abundant not only in the community immediately
surrounding his church, but throughout the colonies. He
took the deepest interest in Rhode Island College, and
spent on one occasion eight months in the South, without
compensation, in raising funds for its equipment. As a
member of its board he had a large share in shaping its
policy. During the war of independence he served for
Chap, i.] BA'OirX UXIVERSITY. 26 1
seven years as brigade chaplain. He entered into the
colonial cause with great enthusiasm and was at the same
time active as a minister of the gospel and as a counselor
of some of the leaders in the struggle. He was one of the
leading spirits in the organization (1767) and the devel-
opment of the Warren Association. Smith took his place
side by side with Backus, Manning, and Stillman in well-
directed efforts to secure the repeal of the assessment laws
and the abolition of the parish system. He was the fore-
most Baptist evangelist of the time and he was instrumental
in the conversion of thousands.
The founding of Brown Unixersity was an event of
primary importance in the history of American Baptists
and meant much for the future standing and influence of
the denomination. The idea of founding such an institu-
tion in Rhode Island seems to have originated with Mor-
gan Edwards, of Philadelphia, who in 1762 brought the
matter before the Philadelphia Association. James Man-
ning, a recent graduate of Princeton, a man of brilliant
parts and sterling worth, was encouraged in 1763 to visit
Newport, confer with brethren there, and take such meas-
ures as might seem prudent for securing a charter and es-
tablishing a college. In July, i 763, he visited Newport and
conferred with Hon. Samuel Ward, Colonel John Gardner,
Colonel Job Bennet, Hon. Josias Lyndon, and other leading
Baptists, who heartily approved of the plan. Steps were
immediately taken for securing a charter. Dr. Ezra Stiles,
a learned Congregational mini.'^ter, afterward president of
Yale College, was asked to make a draft of a charter. He
inserted provisions more favorable to Presbyterians than
the Baptists had intended, and left the predominance of
Baptist influence insecure. The charter thus framed was
about to pass the Assembly, but this was prevented by
the energetic action of Hon. Daniel Jenckes, who had de-
262 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
tected the unfavorable bearing of some of its provisions
on Baptist interests. Considerable commotion was caused
by the discovery of the character of Dr. Stiles's work, and
Baptists, somewhat ungenerously perhaps, accused him of
deliberate fraud. When the Philadelphia Baptists learned
of these transactions they sent Samuel Jones and R. S.
Jones to Rhode Island to look after the matter. With
their help and that of Thomas Eyres, now of Newport, a
charter was drafted, which passed the General Assembly
in 1 764. It was the intention of the projectors of the
college, while vesting the ultimate control in the Baptist
denomination, to give a liberal share of control to other
denominations. It was intended that it should be a Chris-
tian college, in which the youth of Rhode Island and other
colonies might receive advantages similar to those afforded
at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, open on equal conditions
to people of all denominations or of no denomination. Ac-
cording to the charter, twenty-two of the thirty-six trus-
tees are to be forever Baptists ; five are to be Quakers, four,
Congregationalists, and five. Episcopalians. Of the twelve
fellows, " eight are to be Baptists, and the rest indefinitely
of any or all denominations." The following extract from
the charter shows the liberal spirit in which the college
was founded : " Into this liberal and catholic institution
shall never be admitted any religious tests. But, on the
contrary, all the members hereof shall forever enjoy full,
free, absolute, and uninterrupted liberty of conscience ; and
that the places of professors, tutors, and all other officers,
the president alone excepted, shall be free and open for
all denominations of Protestants ; and that }'ouths of all
religious denominations shall and may be admitted to the
equal advantages, emoluments, and honors of the college
or university ; and that the public teaching shall, in gen-
eral, respect the sciences ; and that the sectarian diff"er-
ciiAi'. I.] BROjrx rxir/^Ks/TV. 26^
ences sheill not make any part of the public and classical
instruction."
The trustees and fellows included the most prominent
men of all denominations — governors, ex-governors, gov-
ernors-to-be, judges, military dignitaries, etc. Among the
Baptists were Samuel Ward (governor. Supreme Court
justice, congressman, etc.), Chief-Justice Daniel Jenckes,
Josias Lyndon (afterv^ard governor), Nicholas Brown (a
chief benefactor of the college). Colonel Job Bennet (who
was made treasurer), Dr. Joshua Babcock (afterward major-
general), Dr. Thomas Eyres (who was appointed secre-
tary), Samuel Stillman, John Gano, and Morgan Edwards.
Among the fellows was Hezekiah Smith, who from the
beginning served the college with rare devotion.
The material resources of the college were in almost
ludicrous contrast with the magnificent board of trustees.
About two thousand dollars were subscribed toward its
equipment, but there was no endowment, no buildings, no
library, no faculty but Manning, and no salary provided
for him. Morgan Edwards visited England in the interests
of the college, and Hezekiah Smith made an extended can-
vass in the South, especially in South Carolina. It may
seem strange that the dignitaries appointed as trustees did
not at once make and secure from their well-to-do friends
liberal contributions for the equipment of the college. But
there was probably little accumulated wealth at that time
and the grace of gi\-ing was not well developed.
Learning that there were a number of the members of
the old Swansea church residing at Warren who were de-
sirous of forming a new churcli. Manning arranged to take
charge of this new interest as a means of support, and to
open a Latin school' that should develop into the pro-
posed college. He began work in 1764. A year later
he was appointed president of the college and began to
264 ^'^^^ BJriVSTS. [Per. 11.
teach the studies of a coUege course to the few students
who presented themselves. The first commencement was
held at Warren in. I 769, when seven young- men, several
of whom afterward attained t^ distinction, received the
baclielor's degree.
The question of the permanent location of the college
had soon to be settled. The chief competitors were New-
port and Providence. Newport was twice as large and
probably more than twice as wealthy as Providence, and
Baptist numbers and influence were proportionately large.
Tt is to this day a mystery to Newport people why Provi-
dence should have been chosen in preference. Providence
offered ^4280, which was slightly above the Newport
offer; but this alone is scarcely a sufficient explanation of
the choice. It may be that Manning had private assur-
ances of generous dealing from members of the Brown
family, already prosperous and interested in education.
It may be that the suspected heterodoxy of certain influ-
ential Newport Ikiptists led to the ignoring of what seemed
to be the superior claims of that city. Possibly the pros-
pect of being able to support himself in Providence by
preaching may have led Manning to prefer the latter city.
In 1770 the college removed to Providence. Buildings
were soon erected, the beginning of an endowment was
created, additional instructors were secured, and the work
of the institution began to compare favorably with that of
the older colleges. During the war the buildings were
used for barracks and other government jjurposes, and the
work of instruction was sadly interrupted. After the war
the prosperity of the college went hand in hand with tlie
general prosperity of the denomination.
It is somewhat humiliating to find the college corpora-
tion voting (1793) to petition the General Assembly for
" the grant of a lottery of four thousand dollars, for the
Chap, i.] THE WARREX ASSOCLITION. 265
purpose of purchasing Dr. Forbes' Orrery and other articles
of a Philosophical Apparatus ; and for increasing the Col-
lege library ; and for other necessary and useful purposes."
Such a procedure seems at that time to have been regarded
as entirely legitimate and to have called forth few protests.
In 1804 Rhode Island College became Brown Univer-
sity, in honor of Nicholas Brown, whose liberality and that
of members of the family to the present time have amply
justified the change of name.
Manning served the college with noble self-sacrifice and
the best kind of success till his death, in 1791. He was
succeeded by Jonathan Maxcy, a graduate of the college,
who served ably until 1802, when he accepted the presi-
dency of Union College. He afterward became president
of South Carolina College, where he taught and influenced
for good some of the leaders of the Southern Baptists.
The president during the closing years of this period was
Dr. Asa Messer, also a graduate of the college. Since
that time the university has been fortunate in having a
succession of presidents of the highest rank, including
FrSncis Way land, Barnas Sears, Alexis Caswell, Ezekiel
G. Robinson, and E. Benjamin Andrews ; and its influence
for good has been incalculable.
The Warren Association was organized at Warren, R. I.,
in 1 767. The moving spirit was undoubtedly James Man-
ning, but he had the hearty co5peration of Hezekiah Smith
and others in New England, and the encouragement of the
Philadelphia Association. Representatives of ten churches
assembled to consider the proposal to organize ; but those
of four churches only saw their way clear to join in the
enterprise. Even Isaac Backus, who was afterward to take
so prominent a part in its proceedings, felt constrained to
hold aloof until i 770. Backus's church, and many others,
" waited until they could be satisfied that the Association
266 THE BAPTISTS. [Pkr. ii.
did not assume any jurisdiction over the churches, before
joining, and they now joined upon the express condition
that no complaint should ever be received by the Associa-
tion against any particular church that was not of the As-
sociation, nor from any censured member of any of our
churches." The four constituent churches were the War-
ren, R. I., and the Haverhill, Bellingham, and Second
Middleborough, of Massachusetts. Scruples gradually
gave place to confidence, and a large proportion of the
churches of New England identified themselves with the
Warren Association, until for convenience other associa-
tions were formed in various localities. The chief objects
of Manning, Smith, and the other fathers of the Associa-
tion were the securing of denominational codperation in
education, evangelization, and the struggle for religious
liberty. How nobly it subserved the last end will appear
in a subsequent chapter.
During this period the Baptist cause was extended into
those New England colonies that had not been occupied
up to I 740. There were a few Baptists in New Haiyp-
shire, but no church organization before the beginning of
the present period. The first organization was effected at
Newton in 1755. From 1767 onward Hezekiah Smith,
pastor of the Haverhill, Mass., church, labored throughout
the neighboring townships of New Hampshire with gratify-
ing results. His own diary gives a picturesque account of
the various meetings held. In May, 1767, he preached at
Hampstead, Chester, Suncook, Dunbarton, and Deerfield ; in
June he assisted the Newton church in securing exemption
from taxation to the standing order, and preached at Brent-
wood, New Market, Lee, Madbury, and Phillipstown, (Me.).
At the last-mentioned place he " preached in a barn, be-
cause there was not room to hold the people in the meeting-
house, and likewise because the barn was handiest to the
Chap, i.] BAPTISTS IX XKW HAMPSHIRE. 267
river, where I baptized that day Simon Coffin and Sarah
Coffin." In August he baptized at Brentwood. " After
the baptism at the water-side I spoke some time to the
people, it being one of the most solemn times, and of the
greatest emotion that I ever saw at the water-side." At
Deerfield Smith baptized the Congregational minister,
Eliphalet Smith, his wife, and twelve other members of
his church, " who the same day were embodied into a
Baptist church" (June 14, 1770). It may be remarked
that Smith's \isit on this occasion was in response to a
special invitation from pastor and people. Two days later
he baptized at Epping Dr. Samuel Shepard and six others.
Shepard was ordained a year later and proved one of the
most useful of the early New^ Hampshire ministers. Two
days later (June i8th) Smith preached in the Congrega-
tional meeting-house at New Market and " had a confer-
ence with their church about some of their members who
wanted to be baptized; but the church as a church would
not give me leave to baptize any of their members." Two
days later still he visited Stratham, where he examined a
number for baptism, preached from John vii. t,,'] , "and
then baptized fourteen persons. ... A glorious day has
this been." The next day he " went home, after having
baptized thirty-eight persons within seven days, and
preached seven sermons." On July (or August) i8th
he preached and baptized again at Stratham. " After
baptism I entered into a public debate upon baptism with
Rev. Joseph Adams and R. Marshall. . . . After debate
I assisted in constituting a Baptist church there." Dr.
Shepard became pastor of this along with other churches.
On a subsequent visit to Stratham in September, " by
reason of the number of the people," Smith was " obliged
to preach out of doors, under an oak-tree." On October
9th he preached out of doors at Exeter, and " baptized
268 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
Joseph Sanborn, of Epping, a Congregational preacher,"
and five others. " It was judged that two thousand people
were at the water-side to see the ordinance administered."
The Brentwood church w^as organized in 1772 and enjoyed
the ministry of Dr. Shepard along with Stratham, etc.
The following year a church was constituted at North-
wood, chiefly of members from Stratham and Epping,
with Edmund Pillsbury, of Haverhill, as pastor. Baptist
churches multiplied in New Hampshire from 1780 onward,
partly through the zealous missionary activity of Caleb
Blood, of Marlow, Job Seamans, of Mas.sachusetts, and
Biel Ledoyt, of Connecticut. Nine churches were organ-
ized during 1780. Thomas Baldwin, afterward to become
famous as pastor of the Second Church, Boston, and as a
leader in missionary enterprise, began preaching at Canaan
in 1782, when eighteen years of age, and performed much
fruitful service. The New Hampshire Association was
formed in 1785 of five Maine and three New Hampshire
churches. By 1 795 there were in the State forty-one
churches, with a membership of two thousand five hundred
and sixty-two.
The people of Vermont were slow to accept Baptist
teaching. In 1768 a party of Massachusetts Separates,
who had moved to Vermont to enjoy greater freedom,
adopted Baptist principles and were constituted a Baptist
church at Shaftsbury. The second and third Vermont
Baptist churches were organized in Guilford township
(1770 and 1772). The Pownal church followed in 1773.
Toward the close of the Revolutionary war there was a
great influx of population into the colony, including many
Baptists and a number of able ministers. The Shaftsbury
Association was formed in 1781. By 1790 the number of
churches had risen to thirty-four and the membership to
sixteen hundred and ten. Four other associations were
Chap, i.] VERMOXT AXD MAIXE. 269
formed in Vermont before the close of the centur}' — the
Woodstock (i 783), the Vermont (1785), the Lej'den (i 793),
and the Richmond (1795).
Nothing was attempted in the way of Baptist organiza-
tion in Maine, after the removal of Screven and his breth-
ren to South CaroHna (1684), till 1767, when Hezekiah
Smith made an evangelistic tour in the colony, baptizing
a number of believers at Gorham, Block House, Sanford,
etc. In I 768 Smith aided in constituting churches at Gor-
ham and Berwick. The Sanford church was constituted in
1773-
In Maine also the closing years of the Revolution were
a time of great denominational increase. The offer of free
homesteads at the close of the war attracted large numbers
of soldiers and others to the unsettled and sparsely setded
regions, and the Baptist cause was thereby reinforced.
Among the most successful Baptist workers were Nathan-
iel Lord, James Potter, Job Macomber, Isaac Case, and
Elisha Snow. Among the earhest churches organized in
Maine were the Berwick, Wells, Sanford, Coxhall, and Shap-
leigh. The Bowdoinham church was constituted in 1784
as a result of the labors of Potter and Macomber, with the
latter as pastor. The Thomaston church was constituted
a year later through the efforts of Case. From this time
onward Baptist churches multiplied. The Bowdoinham
Association was formed in 1787 and consisted of three
churches. By the close of the centur)^ the number of
churches was thirty-two and the membership fifteen hun-
dred and sixty-eight.
Arminianism of the Wesleyan type appeared among the
Baptists of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont about
1778. In September, 1770, Benjamin Randall, a godless
young man of twenty-one, heard Whitefield at Portsmouth,
N. H. Two davs after leavins: Portsmouth the ureat evan-
2 70 THE BAPTISTS. [I'kr. ii.
L;'elist died at Newbiiryport, Mass. Randall was more pro-
foundly impressed by the news of his death than he had
been by the preaching. He was converted and soon felt
strongly impelled to evangelize. This prompting he hjng
resisted. In 1775 he severed his connection with the
Congregational church of which he was a member, on ac-
count of the laxity of its disciplii\e. The birth of his third
child led him to investigate the subject of infant baptism,
and the result was his rejection of the rite. He was bap-
tized into the fellowship of the Berwick, Me., Baptist church
and soon afterward began his fruitful career as an evan-
gelist. In 1778 he located at New Durham, N. H., but
covered a wide territory with his evangelistic acti\'ity. It
soon appeared to his Baptist brethren that he was not
teaching the commonly accepted type of doctrine. Con-
troversy arose and raged (1779), and he was convicted
of Arminianism and disfellowshiped by a council of his
brethren. Several other ministers in eastern New- Hamp-
shire and w^es'tern Maine expressed sympathy with his
views, notably Pelatiah Tingley, Samuel Weeks, Daniel
Hibbard, Tosier Lord, and Edward Lock. In 1 780 a
Baptist church was organized at New Durham in sym-
pathy with Randall's views. B}^ i 790 there were eighteen
churches in the connection, with about eight hundred mem-
bers. Randall was abundant in labors, and his principles
were soon firmly planted throughout Maine, New Hamp-
shire, and Vermont. The doctrinal position of the party
was that of evangelical Arminianism. Open communion
was early adopted and has since characterized the denom-
ination. For tw^enty years the churches refused any other
designation than " Baptist." The persistence of the Regu-
lar Baptists in calling these brethren " Free-willers " led to
their adoption of the name " Free-will Baptist." Randall
died in 1808, and a period of denominational anarchy en-
sued. Quarterly meetings were held from i 783 onward,
Chap, i.] STATISTICS. 27 1
but no general denominational organization occurred dur-
ing this period. By 1 8 10 the connection embraced about
130 churches, iio ministers, and 6000 members.
A few statistics will show how largely the Baptist cause
in New England profited by the Great Awakening. In
1740 there were in Massachusetts 6 Baptist churches, in
Rhode Island 11, in Connecticut 4. Most of these were
feeble and some of them were in a declining state. All
but four or five seem to have been Arminian, and Armin-
ianism had invaded some of the few Calvinistic churches.
By I 768 the number of Baptist churches in Massachusetts
had risen to 30, in Connecticut to 12, in Rhode Island to
36. The Baptist cause had taken root in New Hampshire
and was represented by one congregation. But only a
fair beginning had as yet been made. The Baptists by
this time had attained to such a position in the New Eng-
land colonies, and were so full of evangelistic zeal, that
progress was henceforth easy. By 1790 Massachusetts
had 92 Baptist churches and 6234 members; Rhode
Island, 38 churches and 3502 members; New Hampshire,
32 churches and 1732 members; Maine, 15 churches and
882 members; Connecticut, 55 churches and 3214 mem-
bers; Vermont, 34 churches and 16 10 members. Twenty
years later (1810-12) Maine's churches had increased to
103 and her membership to 5294; New Hampshire had
69 churches and 4940 members; Vermont had 76 churches
and 5185 members; Massachusetts had a membership of
8104, but had suffered a loss of one in the number of
churches; Connecticut had 65 churches and 5716 mem-
bers; while Rhode Island had lost both in churches and
members, the former numbering 26 and the latter 3033.
Six Principle and Seventh-day Baptists are probably in-
cluded in the statistics for 1790 and omitted in those for
1 8 10. The Free-will Baptists seem to be omitted in the
statistics of the States in which they flourished.
CHAPTER II.
THE PHILADELPHIA CENTER. ^
The effects of the Great Awakening were less marked
in the cok^nies inchided at the time in the Philadelphia
Association than in New England. This was due to the
fact that the Baptist work in these regions was already
well organized and was relatively free from the hindering
influences that in New England could be ox'ercome only
by a great religious upheaval. An evangelical Cah'inism,
substantially like that of Whitefield and the New Lights,
had long prevailed among the Baptists of the Philadelphia
Association As Baptists had never been persecuted in
these regions there was not that bitter sectarian feeling
that led the Baptists of New England to look askance at
a religious movement in which their former persecutors
took part. The Baptists of Pennsylvania had by 1 740
already reached a position of assured strength that ena-
bled them to assert their principles with the utmost de-
cision, while maintaining the most friendly relations with
their brethren of other denominations. The growth of
the churches in Pennsylvania and New Jersey during this
period was only normal. During the war there was a
marked decline of membership and interest. After the
war there were years of large ingathering. A few statis-
tics will illustrate the numerical condition of the denomi-
1 Cf. Morgan Edwards; .Spencer; Benedict; Catlicart ; " Min. Pliil. Bapt.
Assoc"; Cook; " Bapt. Mem.," vol. i., pji. 9 scij., 74 .f<y., vol. iii., pp. 197
St-(]., vol. v., pp. 24 srq., 36 si-(j., 43 sci/., 69 seq. ; and Read and Burkitt.
272
Chap. II.] THE PHILADELPHIA ASSOCIATION. 273
nation within the bounds of the Association. In i 762 the
Association comprised churches in Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, New England, New York, Virginia, and Mary-
land, 29 in all, with a membership of 13 18. The number
of baptisms during the preceding year was 126. In 1762
the number of churches was 30, the number of baptisms
132, and the total membership 1585. In 1765, 33 churches
are reported, 308 baptisms, and a membership of 2234.
In 1776, 42 churches reported 188 baptisms and 3013
members. In 1807, although the constituency of the
Association had been limited to Pennsylvania and New
Jersey by the formation of other associations, 29 churches
are reported, 251 baptisms, and 3632 members. In 181 2
Pennsylvania had 63 Baptist churches and 4365 members ;
New Jerse)^ 35 churches and 281 1 members; Delaware,
6 churches and 480 members; and Marjdand, 14 churches
and 697 members.
The territory of the Philadelphia Association was cov-
ered in general by the evangelistic efforts of the Tennents
and their supporters. Though they had been cast out of
the Synod at an early period of the re^'ival movement,
they had continued their work with unabated zeal. As
the Presbyterians opposed to the revival had no such
means of persecution as had the standing order in New
England, the New Light Presbyterians were called upon
to suffer nothing worse than ecclesiastical censure and
damaging misrepresentation. Retaining the very effective
Presbyterian discipline, and educating evangelists under
strong Presbyterian influence, the Presbyterians of Ten-
nent's school showed little susceptibility to the influence
of Baptist principles. It is a historical fact, account for
it as we may, that ground once preoccupied by Presby-
terians is relatively irresponsive to Baptist effort. It is
doubtful whether in a single case a Baptist church was
2 74 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
formed out of the membership of a New Light Presby-
terian church in New Jersey or Pennsylvania, while scores
of such cases occurred among the Separate churches of
New England.
Yet the Baptists of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Dela-
ware, and Maryland enjoyed a gradual growth in mem-
bership, perfected their organization, gave much help and
encouragement to those who were laboring in regions
where circumstances were more favorable to extensive
aggressive work, promoted the formation of associations
as means of consolidating and conserving the results of
the revival, and laid the foundation for the educational
work of the denomination.
Doctrinal aberrations appeared from time to time in in-
dividuals and in churches, but the Association as a whole
was so well established in sound doctrine that scarcely a
ripple was caused thereby. In 1 743 the attention of the
Association was called to the fact that Joseph Eaton,
pastor of the Montgomery church, had used expressions
tending to cast doubt upon " the eternal generation and
Sonship of Jesus Christ our Lord." " After some time
spent in debate thereon," the accused brother " stood up,
and freely, to our apprehension, recanted, renounced, and
condemned all expressions, which he had heretofore used,
whereby his brethren at Montgomery, or any persons
elsewhere, were made to believe that he departed from
the literal sense and meaning of that fundamental article
in our confession of faith." The apology of the aged
brother was accepted as satisfactory. The Association
took occasion to exhort the people to content themselves
and be satisfied " with the revealed will of God, concern-
ing the unutterable, as well as inconceivable, mysteries of
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three in one, and one in
three, the co-essentiality, the co-eternity, and co-equality
Chap, ii.] A'ECOA'DS COLLECTED. 2/5
of the three glorious Persons in one eternal God." "A
number in one of our churches having suffered themselves
to inquire therein, according to aforesaid rules of human
reason and worldly wisdom, have become so entangled
and confused, that they were carried so far as to question
the Sonship of the second Person, as he is God, without
having reference to his manhood and mediatory offices ;
which conception and supposition we not only disallow,
but abhor and condemn, and are glad that God hath
blessed means to convict the said parties of their sin and
error ; and herein we were, ncniinc contradiceutc, fully
united to repel, and put a stop to, as far as we may, . . .
the Arian, Socinian, and Antitrinitarian systems." Bap-
tism by unbaptized or unauthorized persons was again
and again repudiated.
In 1 746 Benjamin Griffith was appointed to " collect and
set in order the accounts of the several Baptist churches in
these provinces, and keep a record of the proceedings of
our denomination in these provinces." To his labors,
under this commission, we are deeply indebted. In I749
Griffith read before the Association an essay on "The
Power and Duty of an Association of Churches." It
would be difficult to find a juster presentation of the sub-
ject in Baptist literature. The views set forth are sub-
stantially those of the Baptists of to-day. It was deter-
mined in 1753 that no person should be ordained to the
ministry on the judgment of a single church as to his
fitness, but that a candidate for ordination should " visit
other churches, and preach among them, and obtain from
those churches concurring evidence of their approbation."
In 1755 a day of fasting and prayer was appointed, and
for the following year it was decided that these exercises
be " continued quarterly throughout the year, unless we
shall have cause to turn our fasting into thanks and praise
276 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. 11.
to God for deliverance granted." These fast-days were
kept up for many years.
Several brethren were appointed in i 755 and often after-
ward to visit struggling Baptist communities near and far
in correspondence with the Association. This year breth-
ren were appointed to visit Virginia and North Carolina,
and Cape May.
It was agreed in i 756 to " raise a sum of money towards
the encouragement of a Latin Grammar School for the pro-
motion of learning amongst us, under the care of Brother
Isaac Eaton." This school was conducted at Hopewell,
N. J., and proved highly serviceable to the denomination.
Six years later the Association wrote the London minis-
ters, informing them of the state of the churches and sug-
gesting that they do something for the academy. " A few
books proper for such a school, or a small apparatus, or
some pieces of apparatus, are more immediately wanted,
and not to be had easily in these parts. We have also, of
late, endeavored to form a library at Philadelphia, for the
use of our brethren in the ministry who are not able to
purchase books." From an earlier minute it appears that
the nucleus of this library consisted of books sent out by
Thomas HoUis, of London. Morgan Edwards, who was to
be the chief historian of the churches of the Association,
was the moving spirit in these literary and educational
endeavors.
It is somewhat startling to find the Association, in
1762, granting a certificate to a minister stating that he
has " been admitted into holy orders, according to the
known and approved rites of the Baptist Church."
In 1762, or earlier, members of the Association, under
the inspiration of Morgan Edwards, began to plan for the
establishment of a Baptist college. It was felt that more
than anvthiner else such an institution would contribute to
CiiAi'. ]].] A BAPTIST COLLEGE PROPOSED. 277
the dignity and strength of the denomination. A number
of Baptist young men had been educated and were being-
educated at Princeton, at the University of Pennsylvania,
and elsewhere ; but it was felt that an adequate number
of educated ministers would never be secured until the de-
nomination should have an institution of its own in which
Baptist principles should predominate and in which de-
nominational life should be fostered. It was the opinion
of Morgan Edwards and the brethren with whom he took
counsel that, all things considered, Rhode Island was the
most advantageous location for a Baptist college. It would
have been impossible to secure a charter in Massachusetts or
Connecticut, and these commonwealths were already sup-
plied with university facilities. The advantages of Rhode
Island from the point of view of the Pennsylvania and
New Jersey brethren were probably the following: i. It
was highly probable that a charter could be readily se-
cured in that land of civil and religious liberty ; 2. The
Baptists of Rhode Island had grown up with the country
and many of them had attained to wealth and high polit-
ical and social position, whereas the Baptists of Pennsyl-
vania and New Jersey were poor and could not have
contributed very largely toward the establishment of a
university; 3. The geographical position of Rhode Island
was central as regards the Baptist population of the north-
ern and middle colonies. James Manning, who had just
been graduated with high honors at Princeton, was selected
by these brethren of the Philadelphia Association to pro-
ceed to Rhode Island, to confer witli leading Baptists there,
and to take necessary steps for securing a charter. The
churches of the Association contributed liberally, accord-
ing to their means, for the equipment and support of the
college ; but the noblest contributions they made were the
idea and the man.
278 ^'^/^ BAPTISTS. [I'KK. It
At about the same time the Association contributed
another Princeton graduate, Hezekiah Smith, to New Eng-
land. The Warren Association, formed on the model of
the Philadelphia, was due to this noble contribution of men
and to the friendly intercourse that was thus established.
The welding of the new Baptists of New England with the
old was due to the same influence.
Earlier still (1749) the Association had contributed to
the Baptist cause in South Carolina a minister who was to
prove a source of strength and unity to the cause. Oliver
Hart was thoroughly imbued with the principles of the
Baptists of the Association, and two years after his settle-
ment secured the organization of the Charleston Associa-
tion, which was in its purposes and its work almost an
exact copy of the Philadelphia.
The Association had a large share in the Baptist work
of Virginia. Men and money were always available
whenever there was an opportunity to advance the Baptist
cause. The Ketokton Association, Virginia, was likewise
modeled on that of which the churches composing it had
been members. In 1774 it was agreed that the churches
be recommended to contribute to a fund for " brethren
sufifering under ecclesiastical oppression in New England."
After the formation of other associations it was the
custom of the Philadelphia Association to appoint and re-
ceive fraternal delegates. Thus the bonds of brotherhood
were maintained and the unity of the denomination greatly
promoted.
Among the ministers of the Philadelphia Association
during this period Morgan Edwards held high rank. He
was born in Wales (1722) and educated at Bristol Baptist
College. After nine years of ministerial service in Ireland
and one year in PZngland, he became pastor of the Phila-
delphia church, on the recommendation of Dr. Gill, in
Chap, ii.] EDWARDS, JONES, AND MORGAN. 279
1 76 1. He is said to have been the only Baptist minister
in America who opposed the Revohition. This sint^ular-
ity no doubt interfered seriously with his popularity as a
minister. He gave up regular preaching in 1771, and his
name does not occur in the minutes of the Association
from 1776 to 1 791, although in 1785 the churches were
recommended " to make enquiry among themselves . . .
what number they will respectively take, of an intended
publication of materials towards the history of the Baptists
in New Jersey." The leisure secured by the intermission
of ministerial labor he employed to good account in mak-
ing a most painstaking collection and digest of the mate-
rials of the Baptist history of America. He visited Baptist
communities from New Hampshire to Georgia in the in-
terest of his history. He died in 1795, having retained
to the end the fullest confidence of his brethren.
The ablest and most trusted leader among the ministers
of the Association during this period was undoubtedly Dr.
Samuel Jones. His parents had removed to Pennsylvania
in 1737, when he was two years of age. He was gradu-
ated from the College of Philadelphia in 1762, the same
year in which Manning and Smith were graduated from
Princeton. He possessed ample learning, a strong person-
ality, a magnificent physique, and practical wisdom of the
highest order. Eloquent and amiable, he won the hearts
of all, and to the close of his long life in 18 12 he was a
Nestor among his brethren. He had only one pastorate,
that of the Lower Dublin (Pennepek) church, which he
served from 1762 till his death. He preached the centen-
nial associational sermon, to be hereafter referred to.
Less equable and amiable than Dr. Jones, but more
vigorous and energetic, and perhaps equally effective dur-
ing his time, was Abel Morgan. Born at Welsh Tract,
Del., in 1713, he became pastor of the Middletown, N. J.,
28o 'J'llli BAPTISTS. [PilR. ii.
church in 1739 and served the church till his death, in
1785. Dr. Jones spoke of him as "the incomparable
Morgan," and Morgan Edwards characterized him as " not
a custom divine, nor a leading-string divine, but a Bible
divine." Much of his time and strength he devoted to
evangelistic work outside his own community. He en-
dured hardness as a good soldier of Christ. When his
principles were assailed he was not slow to defend them.
His debate in 1742 with Samuel Findley, afterward presi-
dent of Princeton College, did much for the advancement
of the Baptist cause and was long remembered throughout
the region in which it occurred. His argument was after-
ward printed and was considered by his brethren able and
effective.
In his centennial sermon (1807) Dr. Jones mentions
among the leading ministers of this period Benjamin Grif-
fith, already referred to as the compiler of the early his-
tory of the churches and as the careful secretary of the
Association, whom he characterizes as " eminent in coun-
cil, and perhaps more so for the use of his pen." Among
those who labored during the latter part of this period, he
esteems worthy of special mention John Davis, of Harford,
Md. ; Robert Kelsay, of Cohansey ; P. P.Vanhorn, of Lower
Dublin ; Isaac Eaton, of Hopewell ; Mr. Walton, of Mor-
ristown ; Isaac Stelle, of Piscataqua ; Benjamin Miller, of
Scotch Plains ; and John Gano, of New York. " These
were burning and shining lights, especially the three last."
Just before the close of this period there comes upon
the stage of action a preacher more highly gifted than any
of those mentioned, who was to become one of the leading
educators in the early part of the next period. This was
William Staughton. Born in Englar.d, 1770, and educated
at Bristol College, he came to America in 1793. After
laboring in South Carolina and New Jersey, he became
Chap, ii.] XEIV YORK. 28 1
pastor (in 1805) of the First Baptist Church in Philadelphia.
In 181 1 he became pastor of the Sansom Street Church, a
colony of the First, where he remained till 182 1, when
he accepted the presidency of Columbian College. While
in Philadelphia he devoted much of his time to training
students for the ministry, and his eloquence and learning
gave him a foremost position among the ministers of the
city. He was to be the first corresponding secretary of
the American Baptist Board of Foreign Missions.
The original First Baptist Church of New York had
become virtually extinct with the removal of Nicholas
Eyres to Newport in 1732. It was always feeble and had
become involved in debt. Baptist services were resumed
about I 745 in the house of Jeremiah Dodge, who had re-
moved to tliC city from Fishkill, where a church had been
constituted. Benjamin Miller, of New Jersey, visited New
York and baptized Joseph Meeks soon afterw^ard ; and
these, with the cooperation of Robert North, of the original
church, secured the services of John Pine, of Fishkill. A
number of the members of the older church were led to
abandon their Arminian views and to join in the services.
Benjamin Miller having become pastor of the Scotch
Plains church (N. J.), the Baptists of New^ York, about
thirteen in number, united with that church in 1753, hav-
ing arranged that the pastor should preach in the city
occasionally and administer the Supper quarterly. Their
numbers having increased, they were constituted a church
in 1762, with the good-will of the church to which they
had belonged. John Gano, of New Jersey, had been se-
cured as pastor. Under his wise and vigorous leadership
the church was greatly prospered, and before the close
of this period had taken its place among the foremost
churches in the land. Gano served the church for twenty-
six years, when failing health compelled him to seek a
282 THE BAPTISTS. [I'kk. ii.
milder climate. Before he entered upon his New York
pastorate he had become widely known as an evangelist
under the Philadelphia Association. Like Hezekiah Smith,
he was a staunch supporter of the colonial cause and served
throughout the war as chaplain. He was succeeded by
Benjamin Foster, whose conversion to Baptist views and
whose pastorate in Newport have already been narrated.
A strong Baptist interest was developed in Dutchess
County, N. Y., from 1745 onward. The first organization
was that at Fishkill. The North-east church was consti-
tuted in 1751 ; the Dover in 1757; the Stanford in 1759;
and the Warwick in I ']66. Little is known about the
earliest history of the Fishkill church. It was probabl}'
made up of Baptists from New England. Elder Halstead
was the first pastor. This church seems to have become
extinct after a few years. The North-east church was a
result of the Great Awakening. A Separate church was
formed of members who seceded from a Presbyterian
church, and of these Separates many became Baptists, in-
cluding Simon Dakin, the first pastor of this Baptist church.
The Dover church was formed under like influences.
Samuel Waldo was its first pastor, and through his energetic
efforts the Baptist cause was greatly promoted throughout
this part of the colony. The Stanford church was organ-
ized w^ith tlie assistance and under the influence of the old
Swansea church, to which most of its constituent members
may have previou.sly belonged. Ephraim and Comer Bul-
lock were early appointed to administer the ordinances, and
the latter long served in the ministry.
From I 763 onward the settlement of the vast and fertile
regions of northern and western New York was exceed-
ingly rapid, a considerable degree of safety from French and
Indian attacks having been secured by the Treaty 0/ Paris.
Large numbers of New England Separates remo\'ed to
Chap, ii.] NEW YORK ASSOCIATIOX. 283
these newly opened regions to escape persecution and to
better their worldly position. Some came as Baptists and
many more were led by the logic of their position into
the Baptist ranks. In 1773 two Baptist families from
Warwick, N. Y., removed far into the wilderness, and set-
tled on Butternut Creek in Otsego County. Other families
followed them and a church was soon organized. From
this center Baptist teaching radiated throughout a large
part of western New York. It is impracticable to follow
the work in its details.
A few statistics will show that New York proved one
of the most fertile fields in which Baptist principles were
ever planted. In 1750 there were at most three or four
Baptist organizations in the colony, some of the older
churches having become extinct. In 1770 there were 7
small churches. By i 784, 4 churches had been added and
the membership exceeded 700. In 1 792 there were 62
churches, with a membership of about 4000. By 1812 the
astonishing figures of 239 churches and 18,499 members
had been reached.
During the early part of this period several of these
scattered churches connected themselves with the Phila-
delphia Association. In 1791 the New York and War-
wick Associations were formed; in 1795, the Otsego; in
1796, the Rensselaerville ; in 1801, the Cayuga; in 1802,
the Essex and Champlain ; in 1806, the Saratoga; in 1808,
the Madison and the Black River; in 18 10, the Union; in
181 1, the Franklin; in 1812, the St. Lawrence; and in
1 81 3, the Ontario. In 1807 the Lake Missionary Society,
known from 1808 as the Hamilton Missionary Society,
was formed at Pompey. A full documentary history of
the New York Baptists is a desideratum.
CHAPTER III.
VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA. 1
It will be remembered that near the close of the pre-
ceding" period feeble churches of the General Baptist per-
suasion were organized at Burleigh and Surrey. In i 743
a small party of Maryland General Baptists, of whom Ed-
ward Hays and Thomas Yates were the leaders, settled on
the Opekon, in Frederick County. Henry Loveall, who
had been their pastor in Maryland, soon followed them.
The church may have retained its original organization, or
may have been organized anew. It had come into a dis-
ordered state by 1752, when it was visited, probably at
the request of some of its members, by Benjamin Miller,
John Thomas, and John Gano, ministers of the Phila-
delphia Association, who, according to a MS. account used
by Semple, " new modeled the church, forming it upon
the Calvinistic plan, sifting out the chaff, and retaining the
supposed good grain." According to Gano's account,
" out of the whole who offered themselves, there were
only three received." These three " were constituted, and
six more were baptized and joined with them." " Some
openly declared they knew they could not give an account
of experiencing a work of grace, and therefore need not
offer themselves." Some sous^ht to be further instructed
1 Cf. Semple; Howell; Curry; Hening, "Statutes at Large"; Hawks,
" Contr. to Ecc. Hist." ; Taylor ; Foote, "Sketches of Virg." ; Asplund;
Read and Burkitt ; and Rij^pon.
284
Chap, hi.] VIRGINIA. 285
and " afterwards professed and became zealous members."
The new-modeled church had for its pastor in 1754 Sam-
uel Heaton, who, " driven from his possessions by the
Indians," returned to Pennsylvania by 1656 and was for
many years (1761 onward) pastor of the Dividing Creek
church, New Jersey. His place was taken by John Gar-
rard, probably the same as John Jaret, whom brethren
appointed by the Association in 1755 to visit Virginia and
North Carolina had been authorized to ordain. The name
of John Garret appears In the minutes of the Association
in 1755 and 1758, and from 1761 onward as pastor of the
Opekon, Va., church.
The Ketokton church, in Loudon County, was the next
to be constituted. The date of the organization, which
Semple is inclined to put in 1756, was, according to the
minutes of the Philadelphia Association, October 8, 1751.
According to the latter authority the first pastor of this
church was John Thomas, probably a missionary of the
Association, who shortly afterward returned to Peimsyl-
vania, where he died in 1791, aged seventy-nine. Semple
seems to be in error in making Garrard the first pastor of
this church. The Opekon and the Ketokton churches
were received into the Philadelphia Association in 1754.
A third church was formed at Smith's Creek, Frederick
County, in August, 1756, under the ministry of John
Alderson, a missionary of the Philadelphia Association.
A number of Baptists from the North had settled there
about eleven years before, and these had been visited in
the mean time by Samuel Eaton (Heaton), Benjamin
Griffith, and John Gano, of the Philadelphia Association.
This church united with the Association in 1762. These
three churches began holding yearly meetings in 1757, it
being impossible for any considerable number to partici-
pate in the meetings of the Philadelphia Association.
286 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
The visit of Siuibael Steams and Daniel Marsliall, Sep-
arate Baptists from New England, in 1754, produced a
strong impression on many of the Baptists of the old order.
Those who disapproved of the enthusiasm introduced ir^^o
the meetings through this influence asked the Association
to investigate the matter. Benjamin Miller was sent, and
was so pleased with the zeal complained of as to say, that
if he had such warm-hearted Christians in his church he
would not take gold for them. A revival followed, result-
ing in many conversions. The pastor of the Ketokton
church for a number of years, beginning some time before
1 76 1, was John Marks, of whom little further is known.
Garrard and Alderson labored in this region for many
years with great fidelity and success as pastors and evan-
gelists; and to them a number of churches owe their
origin.
About 1762 a church was organized at Broad Run in
Fauquier County under the ministry of David Thomas,
who had been "admitted into holy orders" in the Phila-
delphia Association, as attested in the certificate of the
Association, dated October 13, 1762, and signed by Mor-
gan Edwards. While visiting the older Baptist commu-
nities he met two men who had, without special human
agency, come to feel their need of gospel privileges, and
who had made a journey of sixty miles to secure the help
of the Baptists. Thomas was prevailed upon to visit their
community. The result of his visit was a religious awak-
ening and the organization of a church. Thomas was a
man of rare evangelistic gifts. He labored over an ex-
tensive territory and was instrumental in the conversion
of multitudes who had never before heard evangelical
preaching. Through the labors of Thomas and Garrard,
who often traveled together. Baptist principles were planted
throughout all the upper counties of the Northern Neck.
Chap, hi.] THE KETOKTON ASS0CE4TI0N. 287
These Regular Baptists were opposed with less violence
than might have been expected. The Episcopal ministers,
as historians of their own persuasion freely admit, were
for the most part irreligious and immoral, and lived in
idleness and pleasure at the public expense. The people
were almost entirely neglected and had in turn lost con-
fidence in those who were theoretically their spiritual
guides. There was among the people a hungering and
thirsting for the living word. Many traveled great dis-
tances to hear evangelical preaching and importuned the
preachers to visit their destitute communities. Thus
evangelical teaching extended from one community to
another. Among the most noted ministers raised up
under the preaching of Thomas and Garrard were Daniel
and William Fristoe and James Ireland. Daniel Fristoe,
though unlearned, was one of the most powerful preachers
of the time. The influence of a sermon of his on Presi-
dent Manning has been referred to in an earlier chapter.
The Ketokton Association was formed in 1766, with
the hearty approval and cooperation of the Philadelphia,
of the four churches already mentioned. By the close of
this period it embraced thirty-six churches, with a mem-
bership of more than two thousand.
The Baptist work in the territory covered by the Ketok-
ton Association was accomplished, as has been seen, under
the directing and fostering care of the Philadelphia Asso-
ciation and partook of the character of that body. Both
had felt the influence of the great revival and of the Sep-
arate Baptist movement without fully identifying them-
selves therewith. The Ketokton Association adopted the
Philadelphia recension of the London Confession of Faith
of 1689, with the articles on communion -and the imposi-
tion of hands. The latter was rigorously practiced and
insisted on for more than twenty years. After the great
288 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ll.
revival of i 785-87 and the union of Regulars and Separates
in 1787, " first the necessity, and then the propriety of it,
began to be questioned, until it was finally disused ; and
in the revisal of the Confession of Faith that article was
expunged" (Semple).
The practical wisdom of the Association was distinctly
inferior to that of the Philadelphia. There was lacking
that patient and persistent effort to allay strife and prevent
schism that constituted the strength of the mother Asso-
ciation. The question was raised at one of the sessions
whether one's refusal to bear his proportion of the ex-
penses of the church, according to his property, should be
a matter of discipline. It was determined that a church
might properly tax each member according to his ability
and exclude him in case he refused to submit. Some of
the churches, to their sorrow, attempted to act on this
advice. In 1787 the question of slavery was introduced.
It was determined that hereditary slavery is a breach of
the divine law. A committee was appointed to bring in
a plan for gradual emancipation. This excited such a tu-
mult in the churches that the Association felt constrained
to resolve to take no further steps in this business. The
repudiation of what has been called " alien immersion "
was more pronounced here than in the Philadelphia Asso-
ciation. Much commotion was raised in 1791 by the
dealing of the Association with James Hutchinson and a
church he had gathered and baptized. Hutchinson had
been converted among the Methodists and immersed by a
Methodist preacher. He began his ministry in Georgia,
and after carefully considering his case the Georgia Bap-
tists had accepted his baptism and recognized him as a
minister. While visiting relatives in Virginia a large num-
ber were converted through his preaching and were by him
baptized and organized into a church. The attention of
Chap, hi.] GEXERAL BAPTIST CHURCHES. 289
the Association having been called to the fact that Hutch-
inson had been baptized by a Methodist, it was determined
that neither pastor nor church could be received into the
Association unless they would submit to be rebaptized.
Fortunately for the peace of the Association, they accepted
these terms.
At the close of the last period, it will be recalled, two
small General Baptist churches had been organized in
Virginia, the one in Isle of Wight Count}-, the other in
Surrey, and were under the pastoral care of Richard Jones
and Caspar Mintz. A number of General Baptists had
removed from Virginia to North Carolina, where, under
the leadership of Paul Palmer, a church was constituted.
About I 740 William Sojourner, a member of the Burleigh
church, removed to North Carolina and gathered another
General Baptist church. Through the labors of Palmer,
Sojourner, and Joseph Parker, a number of churches were
constituted during the early years of the present period.
In December, i 756, the church at Burleigh sent the follow-
ing letter to the Philadelphia Association : " The church
of Jesus Christ, in Isle of Wight County, holding adult
baptism, etc., to the Reverend and General Assembly or
Association at Philadelphia, send greeting : We, the above-
mentioned church, confess ourselves to be under clouds of
darkness concerning the faith of Jesus Christ, not knowing
whether we are on the right foundation, and the church
much unsettled: wherefore we desire alliance with you,
and that you will be pleased to send us helps to settle the
church, and rectify what may be wrong." The letter is
subscribed by Caspar Mintz, Richard Jones, and eleven
others. It is probable that the church was visited by
Gano, Vanhorn, and Miller, who about this time were fre-
quently in Virginia and North Carolina. These ministers
of the Philadelphia Association were for the most part
290 THE BArriSTS. [Pkk. ii
cordially received, and they presented the truth with such
fervor and power that large numbers abandoned their Ar-
minianism. Where such were sufficiently numerous they
were organized into churches. The work was continued
after the departure of these brethren. A few persisted in
Arminianism.
In I 765 these churches formed the Kehukee Association.
Several of the North Carolina churches composing this
Association had in 1758 and 1760 united with the Charles-
ton Association.^ The Charleston Association arranged
for an annual meeting of ministers for the churches of
North Carolina and the northern part of South Carolina
about 1758. The Baptist cause greatly prospered in the
regions covered by this Association. By 1 790 it em-
braced sixty-one churches, with more than five thou-
sand members. In that year it was divided, the Virginia
churches forming the Portsmouth Association.
The peculiarities of the General Baptist churches out of
which this great Baptist community grew were Arminian
doctrine and culpable laxity in receiving members and in
exercising discipline. It w^as said that Palmer and his
associates required no profession of a change of heart on
the part of candidates for baptism. When awakened by
the searching preaching of men like Gano, Vanhorn, and
Miller, a large proportion of the members felt that now
for the first time they understood what conversion meant.
In passing over from the General to the Regular Baptist
position some of the churches had failed to eliminate those
who were unable to make a profession of conversion. It
was thought that, due care being exercised in the future
reception of members, the unconverted element would
1 Wood Furnian, " History of the Charleston Association," gives these
dates in his narrative (p. 13), but in his statistical table (p. 55) he gives 1755
to 1759 as the dates of admission.
Chap. 111.] THE KEIIUKEE ASSOCIATIOX. 29 1
soon disappear through conversion or death. The Sepa-
rate Baptists having become numerous and noted for their
piety and zeal in this part of Virginia, advances were made
by the Kehukee Association in 1772 pointing to the es-
tablishment of communion between the two bodies. The
Separates objected on the ground that the churches of the
Association were not sufficiently strict in receiving mem-
bers, were " too superfluous " in their dress, and retained
many members who acknowledged themselves to have
been baptized in a state of unbelief. This rebuff led
the more zealous members of the Association to attempt
a reformation. A meeting was held in Elder Burkitt's
church (1774), in which it was resolved not to hold com-
munion with any who confessed that they were baptized
before their conversion. The meeting of the As.sociation
the next year was a stormy one. Each party claimed to
be the Association. The reformers were finally victorious
and gained as much by accessions of Separate churches
as they lost by the defection of the lax party.
In 1789 those churches that had withdrawn in 1775 on
account of the determination of the majority to insist on
converted membership were received back into fellowship,
the diffi Ities that formerly existed having been removed.
The chief mover in the reformation of 1774 onward was
Lemuel Burkitt.
This Association was greatly concerned, as has been
seen, for the union of the Regulars and Separates, and was
largely instrumental in bringing about this happy event.
The decisions of questions of doctrine and polity are in
accord with the strictest Baptist principles, but for the
most part display a spirit of moderation. The brief con-
fession of faith adopted by the Association in 1777 was
designed to meet the objections of the Separates, who
would have refused the Philadelphia Confession, and yet
292 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
to exclude churches that were lax in receiving members
and e\'ery form of Arminianism. The Association was
alive to the importance of church extension and sustained
itinerant preaching. Baptism by unauthorized persons
was declared to be irregular and undesirable, but not in-
valid. Freemasonry was regarded as inconsistent with
church-membership. The support of pastors and itinerant
preachers was again and again insisted on as a requirement
of the gospel.
The third great Baptist movement in Virginia and
North Carolina, and in some respects the most important,
is that introduced from New England through the Sepa-
rate Baptist evangelists, Shubael Stearns and Daniel Mar-
shall. Stearns was a native of Boston (born i 706). He
was converted in connection with the great revival, and,
like many other Separates, adopted antipedobaptist views.
He was baptized by Wait Palmer at Toland, Conn., in
I 75 I, and was soon afterward ordained. Filled with zeal
for the spread of the gospel, he made his way southward
in 1754- He stopped for a while in Virginia and had
some conference with the Baptists of Opekon. Here he
met Daniel Marshall, his brother-in-law, who had just
been engaged in a mission to the Mohawk Indians at the
head of the Susquehanna. Marshall was born in Connecti-
cut in I 706 and had likewise been converted in the great
revival. He had heard Whitefield preach and had caught
his enthusiasm. Indeed, it would seem that he had been
well-nigh carried off his balance by his expectation of the
near approach of the latter-day glory, and was of those
who with almost fanatical zeal sold, gave away, or aban-
doned their possessions and without scrip or purse rushed
away to convert the heathen and thus hasten the glorious
appearing of Christ. In the words of his son, " he ex-
changed his commodious buildings for a miserable hut ;
Chap, iii.] MARSHALL AND STlLiKNS. 293
his fruitful fields and loaded orchards for barren deserts ;
the luxuries of a well-furnished table for coarse and scanty
fare ; and numerous civil friends for rude savages." Driven
away by Indian wars after a year and a half of earnest
efifort, he made his way to Virginia. Here he came in
contact with the Baptist work that was being carried on
under the auspices of the Philadelphia Association. He
and his wife were led to examine the Baptist faith and
were soon convinced that believers' baptism alone had
Scriptural warrant. They were baptized and he was li-
censed to preach. His later career was truly apostolic in
its spirit and results. Though ill educated, by no means
brilliantly endowed, and already forty-eight years of age,
he was to be instrumental, during the thirty years of life
that remained to him, in the conversion of multitudes and
in planting Baptist churches in Virginia, North Carolina,
South Carolina, and Georgia.
Stearns was more highly gifted and equally zealous.
After laboring for some months in Virginia without such
success as he craved, he removed to Guilford County,
N. C, where he found a people almost destitute of religious
privileges, but ready to listen to the earnest proclamation
of the truth. The Separate Baptists from New England
brought with them the eccentricities of manner that charac-
terized the New Light movement. It is doubtful whether
any evangelist but Whitefield surpassed Stearns in mag-
netic power over audiences. His tones were peculiarly
impressive and capti\-ating, and his eyes seem to have had
almost magical power over those upon whom they were
fixed. Trembling, weeping, screaming, and catalepsy were
common effects of his highl\- impassioned exhortations.
The number of Baptists in Stearns's company, including
Daniel Marshall and his wife, was sixteen. They at once
organized themselves as a church and began aggressive
294 '^'^^^ BAPriSTS. [Per. ii.
work in the community. In a few years the Sandy Creek-
church had increased to 606. Marshall soon gathered a
church at Abbott's Creek, about thirty miles distant. Dif-
ficulty was experienced in finding a minister willing to co-
operate with Stearns in ordaining him. The pastor of a
church on the Peedee River, S. C, was requested to serve,
but refused on the ground that the Separates allowed
women to pray in public and illiterate men to preach, and
encouraged noise and confusion in their meetings. It may
be here remarked that Mrs. Marshall was noted for her
zeal and eloquence, and that she added greatly to the in-
terest of meetings conducted by her husband. The serv-
ices of Elder Ledbetter, another brother-in-law of Mar-
shall, laboring at that time in South Carolina, were finally
secured and the ordination was accomplished. A church
organized at Little River, N. C, in 1760, with a member-
ship of five, increased in three years to five hundred. A
number of zealous preachers were soon raised up, and the
work spread with such rapidity that by 1775 the Sandy
Creek church, to use the language of Morgan Edwards,
who at that time traversed the field for the collection of
historical materials, " had spread her branches southward
as far as Georgia; eastward, to the sea and Chesapeake
Bay ; and northward, to the waters of the Potomac. It,
in seventeen years, became mother, grandmother, and
great-grandmother, to 42 churches, from which sprung
125 ministers, many of whom are ordained, and support
the sacred character as well as any set of clergy in
America."
Marshall early extended his labors into the adjacent
parts of Virginia. Among his converts was Button Lane
(1758), who became at once a most effective preacher.
Forty-two persons converted through his efforts were
baptized by Marshall, and in 1760 a church was consti-
Chai'. 111.] SAXnV CREEK ASSOCIATION. 295
tilted with Lane as pastor. This was the first Separate
Baptist church in Virginia. Shortly after Lane's conver-
sion the ministry of "the Murphy boys" was blessed to
the conversion of a man who was to be the apostle of the
Virginia Baptists. This was Colonel Samuel Harris, one
of the most popular public men of his county. In the
performance of his military duties he chanced to see a
number of people gathering. Having been informed of
the nature of the meeting he w^as led by curiosity to dis-
mount and enter. He was profoundly impressed, and at
the close of the service his military accouterments w^ere
found scattered around. He soon afterward found peace
in believing, and casting aside his worldly honors he began
preaching w^ith w^onderful power. Marshall soon afterward
directed his way southward and left the Virginia work
largely in Harris's hands. A number of churches having
been gathered in North Carolina and Virginia by 1757,
Stearns visited them all and induced them to send dele-
gates to his meeting-house for the purpose of organizing
an Association. Delegates met in January, 1758, and ad-
journed to July. " We continued together three or four
days," wrote one of the participants. " Great crowds of
people attended, mostly through curiosity. The great
power of God w^as among us. The preaching every day
seemed to be attended with God's blessing. We carried
on our association with sweet decorum and fellow^ship to
the end. Then we took leave of one another, with many
solemn charges from our reverend old father, Shubael
Stearns, to stand fast unto the end."
The next meeting of the Association was largely at-
tended. John Gano, of the Philadelphia Association, was
present to inquire into the great work that was going on
and to assist with counsel. Stearns received him cordially,
but most of the ministers viewed him with suspicion and
296 THE BAPTISTS. [I'l.k. 11.
refused to invite him to participate in the meeting". Yet
he was in\ited to preach, which he cHd to the deHgiit and
astonishment of the ministers, some of whom feh as if they
could ne\-er preach again after hearing such eloquence.
Gano was able to report that " doubtless the power of
God was among them. That although they were rather
immethodical, they certainl}^ had the root of the matter at
heart."
In 1767 a collision occurred in evangelistic work be-
tween the Separate Baptists and those of the Ketokton
Association. The Regulars were first on the field with
their zealous preachers, Garrard and Thomas. Harris and
Read were led by divine guidance, as they supposed, into
this region, and were preaching" with wonderful results.
The Regulars were anxious to alia}' any ill feeling that
might hax'e arisen and to secure such a union with the
Separates as would insure harmony of action. In i 769
the Ketokton Association sent three messengers to the
Association of the Separates with an earnest plea for
peace. " If we are all Christians, all Baptists, all New
Lights, why are we dix'ided?" they asked. "Must the
little appellative names, Regular and Separate, break the
golden band of charity, and set the sons and daughters of
Zion at variance? . . . To indulge ourselves in prejudice,
is surely a disorder; and to quarrel about nothing, is ir-
regularity with a witness. Our dear brethren, endeavor
to prevent this calamity for the future." The matter was
much discussed, but the Association rejected the overtures
by a small majority.
The progress of the Separate Baptist movement from
176010 1770 was almost unexampled in Baptist history.
Under such evangelists as Samuel Harris and John Waller
whole communities were stirred to their depths and strong
Baptist churches were established where the Baptist name
Ca.U'. 111. J THE ASSOCIATIOX DISSOU'ED. 297
had scarcely been heard of a short time before. In South
Carohna as well as in North Carolina and Virginia tlie
evangelists had found fruitful soil. The Association had
come to be inconveniently large as regards territory and
the number of churches embraced. Stearns, who had
been the chief organizer of the work of the Association,
laid more stress upon a vigorous connectional life than
upon the independence of the churches. As his methods
of work had much in common with those of the early
Methodists, so his idea of the interdependence of the
churches was Methodist rather than Baptist. According
to Morgan Edwards, whose information was direct, the
Association " carried matters so high as to unfellowship
ordinations, ministers, and churches that acted independ-
ent of them." The theory was that "though complete
power be in every church, yet every church can transfer
it to an Association." The spirit of independence had
become so much a part and parcel of the Baptist system
that such interference with the autonomy of the churches
was sure to be resented. The Association, under the in-
spiration of Shubael Stearns, had made unanimity essen-
tial to any Associational action. At the Associational
meeting of 1770 proceedings were blocked from the very
beginning. A unanimous vote for moderator could not
be secured. The next day was devoted to fasting and
prayer, but at the close of the day unanimity had been
reached in nothing. The following day was spent in the
same way until three o'clock, when a proposal to divide
the Association into three parts, one for each State repre-
sented, was unanimously adopted. The North Carolina
division retained the name Sandy Creek, the South Caro-
lina division adopted the name Congaree, and the Virginia
division the name Rapid-ann. The last soon came to be
known as the General Association of Separate Baptists.
298 THE BAPTISTS. [I'er. ii.
The difficulties that had brought about the dissolution
of the old Association seem to have been completely re-
moved by the division. The churches continued to mul-
tiply and the membership to increase. The number of
members reported in the Virginia division at the first
meeting in 1771 was 1335, with two churches not heard
from. In May, 1773, 3195 members were reported, of
whom 526 had been baptized since September, 1772.
Associational meetings were held twice each year and
were largely attended. In September, 1773, the Associa-
tion was again divided ; but the necessity of co5peration
in striving against ecclesiastical oppression, and the dimin-
ished interest taken in the smaller gatherings, caused a
reunion a few years later.
Difficulties in relation to doctrine and polity early arose
in the Virginia Separate body. In 1774 a query was
raised: "Ought all the ministerial gifts recorded in the
4th of Ephesians, nth, 12th, and 13th verses, to be in use
at the present time?" A majority favored the affirma-
tive, while paying a due regard to the distinction between
ordinary and extraordinary gifts. The question was brought
up again at a subsequent meeting, when it was decided al-
most unanimously (the three opponents finally concurring)
" that the said offices are now in use in Christ's church."
It was further resolved "that the said offices be imme-
diately established, by the appointment of certain per-
sons to fill them." Samuel Harris was chosen apostle by
unanimous consent. Provision was made for the dis-
ciplining of the apostle in case he should tran.sgress, by
the church offended, with the help of two or three neigh-
boring churches, final action to be left to a general confer-
ence of the churches. Harris was solemnly ordained to
the apostolate, John Waller, E. Craig, and John Williams
taking the leading part, and the whole Association giving
Chap, hi.] ARMIXIAXISM. 299
the right hand of fellowship. The ordination of Harris
was for the southern district of the Association. At the
meeting of the Association for the northern district in the
following autumn, John Waller and Elijah Craig were
likewise constituted apostles. In this effort to restore the
apostolate we see another e\'idence of the close relation-
ship of the Separate Baptist movement to the Methodist.
The apostolate was simply episcopacy or general superin-
tendency under another name.
Still another indication of the influence of Methodism,
now a well-organized and aggressive movement in these
parts, was the adoption of Arminian views by some of the
most trusted leaders of the connection. In 1775 it was
queried : " Is salvation by Christ made possible for every
individual of the human race?" Two of the apostles and
Jeremiah Walker, one of the most learned and eloquent of
the ministers, took the affirmative side, while the other
apostle, William Murphy, and John Williams earnestly
argued for particular redemption. A small majority de-
cided in favor of the Calvinistic position, although the
Arminian side had the abler supporters. The result was
that Harris, Waller, and Walker withdrew. Williams was
chosen moderator in place of Harris, who had vacated the
chair. It looked as if the connection was to be hopelessly
shattered. Fortunately the spirit of brotherly love was
stronger than the .spirit of partisanship. The Arminian
part}^, after taking counsel together, addressed the follow-
ing conciliatory letter to the party in the majority, signed
by Samuel Harris as moderator: "Dear Brethren: A
steady union with you makes us willing to be more ex-
plicit, in our answer to your terms of reconciliation pro-
posed. We do not deny the former part of your proposal,
respecting particular election of grace, still retaining our
liberty, with regard to construction. And as to the latter
300 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
l)art, respecting merit in the creature, we are free to pro-
fess there is none." The Calvinistic party, who had made
overtures to the Arminians that called forth the above
letter, received it in the same conciliatory spirit. Their re-
ply, signed by John Williams, moderator, was as follows:
"Dear Brethren: Inasmuch as a continuation of your
Christian fellowship seems nearly as dear to us as our
lives, and seeing our difllculties concerning your princi-
ples, with respect to merit in the creature, particular elec-
tion, and final perseverance of the saints, are in a hopeful
measure removing, we do willingly retain you in fellow-
ship, not raising the least bar. But do heartil}' wish and
l^ray, that God in his kind providence, in his own time, will
bring it about, when Israel shall be of one mind, speaking
the same things." The reconciliation was a most happy
one, and discord which might have proved disastrous was
averted.
A period of marked spiritual depression began at about
this time. The political troubles that were to result in the
war of independence absorbed a large share of attention.
The Baptists of Virginia and the entire South entered into
the struggle for civil liberty with the utmost decision and
zeal, believing that civil liberty was a condition of religious
liberty. They availed themselves of the popular enthusi-
asm for civil liberty to secure for themselves and for all
that liberty of conscience for which Baptists have so per-
sistently contended. The history of the struggle of the
Virginia Baptists for civil and religious liberty, in which
the Separate Baptists took the leading part, must be re-
served for another chapter.
Up to 1 783 the General Association of the Separate
Baptists had been kept up and tv/o meetings held each
year for the better accommodation of the large constitu-
ency. It was now dissolved, and in its place was created
CiiAi'. 111. J PHILADELPHIA COXFESSIOX ADOPTED. 30I
a General Committee, to be " composed of not more than
four delegates from each district association, to meet an-
nually, to consider matters that may be for the good of
the whole society." It was further resolved "that the
present association be divided into four districts: Upper
and Lower District, on each side of the James River."
Happily for the peace of the connection, the Arminian
tendencies that had manifested themselves in 1775 speed-
ily disappeared. A number of leaders continued to lean
toward Arminianism, but the sentiment of the denomina-
tion as a whole was so decidedly Calvinistic that they felt
it necessary in the interest of peace to keep their Arminian
views somewhat in the background. When the General
Association was dividing itself into sections, it was moved
by John Williams that a confession of faith be adopted
which shoulci afford a standard of principles for subse-
quent times. The Philadelphia Confession was agreed
upon, with the following explanations: "To prevent its
usurping a tyrannical power over the consciences of any :
We do not mean that every person is bound to the strict
observance of everything therein contained, nor do we
mean to make it, in any respect, superior or equal to the
Scriptures, in matters of faith and practice ; although we
think it the best human composition of the kind now ex-
tant ; yet it shall be liable to alterations, whenever the
General Committee, in behalf of the associations, shall
think fit."
By 1787 the leaders of the Regular and Separate Bap-
tists of Virginia had come to feel that the differences be-
tween the two connections were too slight to offer a bar
to fellowship. The advances that had been made by the
Regulars some years before were now to bear a blessed
fruitage. The struggle against ecclesiastical oppression
for the past ten years had drawn the two parties closer
302 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
together. Negotiations to this end having no doubt pre-
ceded, the Ketokton Association sent delegates to the
General Committee at its meeting in i 786, who were cor-
dially received upon an equal footing with the rest. The
question of union was considered, and the General Com-
mittee requested the different Associations to appoint
delegates to attend the next General Committee, for the
purpose of forming a union with the Regular Baptists.
The adoption of the Philadelphia Confession by the Sepa-
rates had prepared the way for such union. They had
ceased to lay stress on love-feasts, laying on of hands,
feet-washing, the anointing of the sick, the kiss of charity,
the ceremonial devotion of children, and weekly commun-
ion. They still made a point of plainness in dress. Their
undue enthusiasm in revival work had apparently been
somewhat moderated and had ceased to be offensive to
the Regulars. The chief difficulty in tlie way of union
from the side of the Regulars was the guarded way in
which the Confession of Faith had been adopted by the
Separates and their toleration of Arminianism. Yet they
were willing, in view of the distinguished piety and use-
fulness of the Separates, and the sacrifices and sufferings
they had undergone on behalf of the faith, to fellowship
them on the basis of their guarded acceptance of the Phil-
adelphia Confession. The Separates went so far as to
assert " that the doctrine of salvation by Christ and free
unmerited grace alone, ought to be believed by every
Christian, and maintained by every minister of the gospel."
"Upon these terms," the agreement proceeds, "we are
united ; and desire hereafter that the names Regular and
Separate be buried in oblivion ; and that, from henceforth,
we shall be known by the name of the United Baptist
Churches of Christ, in Virginia^ The union proved a
happy and a permanent one.
Chap, hi.] RAPID lA'CREASE. 303
A great revival of religion had begun among the Bap-
tists of Virginia soon after the close of the war. Both
parties were largely engaged in it, and the high state of
spiritual life in the churches made the union possible.
The revival continued with augmented power after the
union. The rapidity of the increase in churches and mem-
bership during the remainder of the period is shown by
the following statistics : In i 784 there were, according to
the best information available, 151 churches and 14,960
members; about 1790-92 there were 218 churches and
20,443 members; about 1810-12 there were 292 churches
and 35,665 members. It is estimated by Semple that
fully one fourth of the Baptists of Virginia emigrated to
Kentucky between 1791 and 18 10. The large gain was
over and above this heavy loss. At the close of this
period there were nearly twice as many Baptists in Vir-
ginia as in New York, and some thousands more than in
all the New England States together.
After the union of 1787 the General Committee con-
tinued to occupy itself chiefly with efl^orts for complete
separation of church and state and the abolition and pre-
vention of all legislation that was even constructively
opposed to absolute liberty of conscience.
Steps were taken in i 788 toward publishing a history of
the rise and progress of the Baptists in Virginia, and at
subsequent meetings of the General Committee much
attention was given to this matter. After materials had
been gathered John Leland and John Williams were ap-
pointed to compile them.
The Baptists of Virginia accomplished their great work
up to this time with a very moderate amount of educa-
tion. They possessed a number of highly gifted men, who
had surmounted the disadvantages of lack of literary and
theological culture by private study; but it does not ap-
304
rilE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
pear that they had enjoyed the services of a single college-
bred man. The Separates, by way of reaction against the
undue emphasis that was placed on learning by the stand-
ino- order in New England, underestimated and discour-
aged higher education; It was a common thing among
them for a recent convert with an ordinary education, or
none at all, to begin at once to preach ; and some of the
most effective evangelists were of this type. Consumed
with zeal for the newly experienced truth, they went forth
among men of like culture with themselves and preached
with irresistible power. But the leaders among them had
begun to feel tliat to hold what they had achieved and to
attain their high aims an educated ministry would be
needful. Their attention was called to this matter in i 788
by a letter from President Manning, of Rhode Island Col-
lege. It might have been expected that Manning would
urge the Virginia Baptists to avail themselves of the advant-
ages of his own institution ; he urged upon them rather
the importance of establishing an institution of their own.
Committees were appointed from time to time, but noth-
ing effective was accomplished for some years. In i 793 a
committee reported the following plan: "That 14 trustees
be appointed, all of whom shall be Baptists: That these,
at their first meeting, appoint seven others of some other
religious denomination: That the whole 21 then form a
plan, and make arrangements for executing it." Nothing
came of this action, and the Baptists of Virginia remained
without an educational institution till after the close of the
present period.
During the latter part of this period the Methodists,
now well organized and aggressive and with their unpop-
ular war policy well in the past, pressed hard upon the
Baptists in their onward march. Semple complains that
in the towns Baptists were scarcely holding their own (about
Chap, hi.] PROTEST AGAINST SLAVERY. 305
1 8 10), while the Methodists were prospering. It is prob-
able that this was due in part to the more popular methods
and less rigorous requirements of the latter body, and in
part to the excessive stress laid by many Baptist preachers
on the harsher aspects of Calvinism. It was no doubt due
largely to the keen rivalry of the Methodists that Armin-
ianism found so little favor among Baptists.
The question of slavery greatly agitated the minds of
some of the leaders of the denomination during this period.
Struggling as they were for civil and religious liberty, they
could not fail to take into consideration the bearing of their
principles on this great national moral question. In i 789
the following resolution was proposed by John Leland and
adopted: " Resolved, That slavery is a violent deprivation
of the rights of nature, and inconsistent with a republican
government, and therefore recommend it to our brethren,
to make use of every legal measure to extirpate this hor-
rid evil from the land; and pray Almighty God that our
honorable legislature may have it in their power to pro-
claim the great Jubilee, consistent with the principles of
good policy." This protest was, of course, ineffective, and
the great mass of Baptists soon reconciled themselves to
the existence of slavery as an institution of the land which
they were powerless to abolish, but which they would do
everything in their power to mitigate by humane treat-
ment and Christian instruction. Large numbers of slave-
owners became Baptists, and even those that were most in
sympathy with the spirit of the above resolution felt them-
selves helpless. To free their slaves might have exposed
them to worse evils than to retain them under gospel
influences. Once recognized as under the circumstances
allowable, the large property interest involved was sure,
human nature being as it is, to lead Christian slave-owners
to seek to justify the institution itself. For this purpose
3o6 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
main reliance was doubtless placed on the Old Testament,
where slavery is everywhere recognized, and on the lack
of prohibition in the New Testament. The fact that the
New Testament exhorts slaves to be content and obedient
and masters to be humane was thought to be almost equiv-
alent to a positive permission of slavery. As the very
best Baptists in the South, including many of the most
prominent leaders, were slave-owners, some of them on a
large scale, it is important that their point of view should
be understood. The following sentence from Richard
Fuller no doubt expresses the sentiment of the best South-
ern Baptists of his time : " I am unwilling to appear in any
controversy which can even by implication place me in a
false and odious attitude, representing me as the eulogist
and abettor of slavery, and not as simply the apologist of
an institution transmitted to us by former generations —
the existence of which I lament — for the commencement
of which I am not at all responsible — for the extinction of
which I am willing to make greater sacrifices than any
abolitionist has made, or would make, if the cause of true
humanity would thus be advanced."
The General Committee, having completed its labors on
behalf of civil and religious liberty, was dissolved in i 799.
In 1800 its place was taken by the General Meeting of
Correspondence. Considerable uneasiness had been man-
ifested in some of the associations lest the General Com-
mittee should usurp authority belonging to the associa-
tions or to the churches. The constitution of the new body
was in consequence so guarded that it had little to do. It
was not until after the close of this period that it secured
the hearty cooperation of the denomination and became
a power in cementing union, promoting missions and edu-
cation, and bringing the life of the body powerfully to
bear upon the community.
C'HAi'. III.] PKOGKESS IN NORTH CAROLINA. 307
In North Carolina the work of the Baptist body (first
General and then Regular) gathered in the Kehukee As-
sociation, and that of the Separate body gathered in the
Sandy Creek Association, extended into all parts of the
State. Each association soon had many daughters. The
distinction between Regular and Separate Baptists was soon
abandoned here as in Virginia ; yet it is probable that a
more or less clearly defined type of religious life charac-
terized the churches that sprang from each of these centers
until late in the next period. The Kehukee Association
was later to oppose missions, Sunday-schools, and other
modern means of extending the influence of Christianity.
It may be worthy of note that the Sandy Creek Associa-
tion sent forth two of the noblest leaders of the early part
of the next period, men who came to occupy the foremost
rank in learning, eloquence, piet}', and denominational in-
fluence, each to be succeeded by sons equally eminent.
These were William T. Brantly and Basil Manly. Un-
fortunately for the Baptist cause in North Carolina, the
services of these noble men were to be bestowed in other
parts of the vineyard.
The rapid growth of the denomination during this period
may be statistically exhibited: In 1740 there were a few
small bodies of General Baptists gathered by Paul Palmer
and Joseph Parker; in 1784 there were 42 churches and
3276 members; in 1792 there were 94 churches and 7503
members; in 181 2 the number of churches had risen to
204, and of members to 12,567.
CHAPTER IV.
SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA. ^
The last period closed with the Charleston Baptists in
a sadly divided and depressed condition. A faction of
the church had withdrawn, on Arian grounds, in 1733,
and, having organized themselves as a General Baptist
church, held their meetings at Stono in a house erected
for Regular Baptist worship. Members of the church liv-
ing on the Ashley River had withdrawn in 1736 to form a
new church under the leadership of Isaac Chanler, an ex-
cellent minister from England. Pastor Tilly, of the Edisto
branch of the church, died in 1744, much lamented. In
the same year the church was almost wrecked by the de-
termination of the majority to exclude the pastor, Thomas
Simmons, for supposed Arian views, and the resistance
offered by a minority under the lead of Francis Garcia.
The majority were compelled by legal process to share
the meeting-house with the heterodox minority. In June,
1745, a day of fasting and prayer was appointed by the
faithful few. They signed a solemn covenant with one
another and characterized themselves as " all members of
the congregation of antipedobaptists, meeting in Charles-
ton, holding the doctrine of particular election and final
1 Cf. "Two Cent, of the First Bapt. Ch. of S. C"; Furman, "Hist,
of the Charleston Assoc." ; Whilden, " Oliver Hart " ; Burrage; Campbell,
"Geo. BajHists " ; " Hist, of the Bapt. Den. in Georgia"; Benedict; Mer-
cer, "Geo. Bapt. Assoc"; Mallary, " L. of Botsford," and " Mem. of
Mercer"; and Cathcart, "Bapt. Encyc."
^08
Chap, iv.] OLIVER HART. 309
perseverance, and denying Arian, Arminian, and Socinian
doctrines." The signers were William Screven, William
Brisbane, James Screven, Thomas Dixon, William Scre-
ven, Jr., Nathaniel Bullein, James Brisbane, David Stoll,
and Samuel Stillman. The descendants of the first pastor
of the church were among the most active in opposition to
Socinian intrusion. Samuel Stillman was probably the
father of the eloquent and highly influential pastor of
the First Church, Boston (1765 onward). This little band
purchased a lot for i^SOO and the next year erected a
commodious meeting-house. Just at this time the Euhaw
members of this church withdrew and formed a church
with Isaac Chanler as pastor. Thus the church was left
almost without members simultaneously with the increase
in its facilities for worship. But the tide was about to
turn. Whitefield was frequently in Charleston at about
this time and preached repeatedly in the Baptist meeting-
house. New converts began to fill up the depleted Baptist
ranks, and the church was soon to enter upon a glorious
career, a career which in some respects can scarcely be
paralleled.
The chief difficulty experienced at this juncture was that
of securing a suitable pastor. Correspondence with breth-
ren in England and in the Northern colonies in this behalf
long proved fruitless. Elder Chanler was able during
some years to preach for the church fortnightly ; but his
health was failing and he was the only Baptist minister in
the neighborhood. Near the close of 1749 Oliver Hart, of
the Philadelphia Association, came to fill. the long- vacant
pastorate. He arrived on the day of Elder Chanler's
funeral. He was not highly educated, but was possessed
of a vigorous intellect, a strong constitution, indefatigable
energy, excellent judgment, and an attractive personality.
He was withal deeply pious. The church felt that in his
3IO THE BAPTISTS. Per. ii.
coming their prayers had been answered. For thirty
years he filled this important position and withdrew only
when British occupation in 1780 made it unsafe for him to
remain. He afterward became pastor at Hopewell, N. J.,
where he was largely useful. He was urged to return
after the close of the war, but age and attachment to his
new charge prevented. Under Hart's ministry the church
flourished and Baptist evangelization was fostered through-
out the entire region.
To Hart's influence was due the formation (i 75 i) of the
Charleston Association, on the model of the Philadelphia. It
consisted at first of only four churches — the Charleston,
the Ashley River, the Welsh Neck, and the Euhaw. The
delegates of the latter failed to arrive. The pastor of the
Ashley River church was John Stephens, also from the
Philadelphia Association. Philip James, the Welsh Neck
pastor, as well as the church itself, had come from the
Philadelphia Association. In February, 1752, Francis
Pelot became pastor of the Euhaw church, which he long
served with ability and devotion. Born in Switzerland
(1720) and brought up in the Reformed Church, he be-
came a Baptist about 1744, ten years after his arrival in
South Carolina. He was a man of means, being possessed
of "three islands, and about 3785 acres on the continent,
with slaves and stock in abundance." This notice, fur-
nished by Morgan Edwards, is worthy of being quoted on
account of the rarity of such phenomena up to this time.
He was the first in a long line of wealthy Baptist ministers
who administered their large estates in the fear of God
and proved a blessing to the cause. P^rom this time on-
ward he stood shoulder to shoulder with Plart in his ag-
gressive efi"orts in behalf of education and evangelization.
The decisions of the Association on questions of doctrine
and polity are characterized by the same moderation and
Chap. IV.] CHARLESTON ASSOCIATION. 31I
wisdom as those of the mother Association. The Phila-
delphia Confession of Faith was accepted as a fit expres-
sion of the views of the body. In the matter of evangel-
ization, also, the Association followed in the footsteps of
the Philadelphia. In 1755 it was decided to endeavor to
raise money for the support of a missionary in the destitute
parts of South Carolina and the neighboring provinces;
and Hart was authorized, in case funds were forthcoming,
to make an appointment. The result was that John Gano,
of the Philadelphia Association, entered upon his highly
successful career as a missionary. He was instructed by
the Association (1756) to visit the Yadkin district, N. C,
and afterward to bestow his labors wherever Providence
might seem to direct. The need of educated ministers
was keenly felt by the Association, and steps were taken
(1756) to supply this need. ■ The members present sub-
scribed for the churches £\ll to start an education fund,
and Stephens, Hart, and Pelot were appointed trustees.
The first beneficiary was Evan Pugh, appointed in 1759
on Gano's recommendation. He satisfactorily finished his
studies in 1762 and was ordained. He was followed by
Samuel Stillman and Edmund Botsford, both of whom
proved eminently useful. The churches of the Charleston
Association were from the beginning among the most
liberal supporters of Rhode Island College. Hart was a
personal friend of President Manning, and John Gano, who
had wrought so successfully as the missionary of the
Association, was an earnest advocate of the claims of the
college. Gano was present at the session of 1774 as a
representative of the Philadelphia Association. The needs
of the college were considered, and Gano, Hart, and Pelot
were requested to address the Baptist associations through-
out America in favor of a plan of contributions for its sup-
port. In 1775 the churches were urged to contribute
312 THE BAPTISTS. [I'lR. ii.
money for the relief of Baptists in Massachusetts, who
were sufTering from restrictions on their reHgious Hberties.
The Baptists of the Charleston center were enthusiastic
in their support of the Revolution. The people of the in-
terior knew little of the grounds for revolt, and many of
them were disposed to be loyal to British rule. In 1775
Hart was appointed by the provincial Council of Safety
to make a tour of these regions, in company with tw^o
others, to explain to the people the significance of the re-
volt and to gain their support. He was successful in his
mission and is thought to have averted internecine war.
Equally zealous was Richard Furman. Though only
twenty-one years of age at the outbreak of the Revolu-
tion, and though already for two years a minister of the
gospel, he entered upon military service and only retired
when he was assured by those in high authority that he
could more effectively serve the cause by remaining in the
interior. So active was he in influencing public opinion
that Lord Cornwallis offered a large reward for his appre-
hension. Here also the zeal of the Baptists was due in
large measure to their belief that civil liberty was a condi-
tion of religious liberty.
In 1776 a meeting of representatives of the dissenting
denominations was held at the High Hills of Santee, where
young Furman was Baptist pastor, to deliberate as to
measures for the securing of religious liberty. It is a re-
markable fact that as a result of this meeting two of the
pedobaptist ministers, Joseph Cook and Lewis Richards,
became Bapti.sts. These were Calvinistic Methodists, sent
out under the patronage of the Countess of Huntingdon.
Both proved valuable accessions.
Furman became pastor of the Charleston church in 1787,
and was from this time till his death, in 1826, easily the
foremost Baptist of the South and unsurpassed in denom-
Chap. IV.] KICHAKD FUKMAN. 313
inational Influence by any Baptist of America. He did
not enjoy the advantages of a university education, yet
he appHed himself with such diligence to theology, general
literature, medicine, and political science as to rank among
the most highly cultured men of his time. His physique
corresponded accurately with the commanding and yet
gentle quality of his intellect and conduct. His manners
w-ere those of a gentleman of the old school, and he con-
tinued to wear the dress of gentlemen of the later colonial
time long after It had passed out of common use. Like
Gano, Manning, Stillman, and other leading ministers of
the time, he wore in the pulpit the gown and bands. His
ample wealth and the generosity with which he used it In
every good cause no doubt contributed much to his influ-
ence. His popularity was by no means confined to his
own denomination. He was regarded by all as one of
the foremost citizens, and was beloved for his works' sake.
He was among the first and most active promoters of the
Charleston Bible Society. He became Interested In for-
eign mission work early In his ministry, and in 1805-06
was among the most zealous and successful in raising
funds for the publication of the Bible translations of Carey
and Marshman. He was to take a leading part in the
great onward movement in the denomination following
the conversion to Baptist views of Judson and Rice. His
Influence in inducing Ill-educated ministers to gain better
preparation for their work Is Inestimable. The high posi-
tion attained by the Baptists of South Carolina was largely
due to Richard Furman. Like several other noted minis-
ters that have been referred to, he left a worthy posterity.
The Charleston Association did not grow rapidly during
the first twenty years of its history. After the withdrawal
of the North Carolina churches, whose connection with the
Association has been referred to, the number of churches
314 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
was reduced to eight, at which point it remained until
1773. The entire membership at this date was only 390.
At the meeting of 1773 Daniel Marshall and other Sepa-
rate ministers were present to discuss terms of union be-
tween the two bodies, but as the Separates were tenacious
of their peculiarities nothing was accomplished. They are
said to have laid considerable stress on preciseness in dress
and language, somewhat after the manner of the Quakers,
and to have encouraged private members and women to
prophesy. They were suspected of Arminian tendencies,
and were regarded as unduly exclusive in refusing com-
munion w^ith those who rejected their peculiarities.
Far more rapid was the grow^th of the Separate interest.
From the Sandy Creek (N. C.) center the Separate move-
ment advanced southward from 1755 onward. When the
General Association was dissolved in 1771 the churches in
South Carolina, seven in number — namely, the Congaree,
Fairforest, Stephen's Creek, Burch River, Mine Creek, and
two named Little River — formed the Congaree Association.
The work was carried forward with the usual enthusiasm
and success of this type of Baptists. The Congaree As-
sociation gave place to the Bethel in 1789, owing to some
difficulties that had arisen from the attempt of the body
to control the action of the churches. The Broad River
Association was formed in 1800 of churches belonging to
the Bethel. One of the greatest revivals in the history of
the Baptists of this State occurred in 1802-03. Fourteen
hundred and eleven were baptized into the churches of
the Bethel Association in a single year, w^hile the new
Broad River Association, whose membership had been
less than 800, received during the same time 1296 by
baptism. In 1803 the Saluda Association was formed by
a further subdivision of the Bethel.
About 1787 the names Regular and Separate were
Chap. IV.] SETTLEMENT OF GEORGIA. 315
dropped in South Carolina as well as in Virginia and
North Carolina. There was to be cleavage on the ques-
tions of missions, education, Sunday-schools, etc., but this
did not follow the old lines.
In 1784 there were in South Carolina 27 churches and
1620 members; in 1792 there were 70 churches, with a
membership of 4167; in 18 12 the number of churches
had risen to 154 and the membership to 11,325.
Georgia was not opened to British settlement till 1732.
A number of English philanthropists, under the lead of
General Oglethorpe, conceived the idea of making this
highly fruitful and attractive land a refuge for the im-
poverished of pAirope. In this enterprise they were en-
couraged by the South Carolina authorities, who were
anxious to ha\'e a barrier erected between themselves
and the Spaniards. Savannah was the first point to be
occupied, and long continued to be the center of admin-
istration. The colony grew rapidly. A large number
of Highland Scotch and Germans (persecuted Protestant
Salzburgers) came o\-er in 1736, raising the European
population to 600. By 1740 over 1500 colonists had
been settled, at an expense to the proprietors of more
than ;^roo,ooo. It was the purpose of the philanthropic
projectors of the colony to exclude slavery, and as the
population had been settled at heavy expense no fee-
simple titles had been granted. These conditions pre-
vented any influx of population from the older provinces.
The colony failed to prosper until sla\-ery was authorized
(1749) and provision was made for valid land-titles (1750).
It was stated by an English writer in i 740 that there were
" descendants of the Moravian Anabaptists in the new
plantation of Georgia." This is not impossible, but the
Moravian Brethren were probably intended. To provide
sustenance and religious training for the orphans of indi-
3i6 THE BAPTISTS. [Pkk. H-
gent settlers, George Whitefield, in pursuance of a plan
formed by John Wesley and General Oglethorpe, founded
in 1740 an orphan-house, which he called " Bethesda,"
and for which he collected funds on his evangelistic tours
throughout America and Britain. The orphanage was
located a few miles south of Sa\annah.
There were a number of Baptists, whose names are
known, among the early settlers. In 1757 Nicholas
Bedgewood, Whitefield's agent at the orphanage, adopted
Baptist views and was baptized by Oliver Hart into the
fellowship of the Charleston church. Two years later he
was ordained to the ministry. Several connected with
the orphanage, including B. Stirk, were baptized by him in
I 763, and the Lord's Supper was administered in the in-
stitution, to the no small annoyance of Whitefield. Bedge-
wood was a man of classical education and of popular gifts.
He soon removed to South Carolina, where he labored for
many years. Stirk remoxed up the Sa\-annah River about
eighteen miles, became a member of the Euhaw, S. C,
church, and ministered till his death in 1770 to a few
Baptists at Tuckaseeking, twenty miles farther up the
river. The Baptists gathered by Stirk seem to have re-
mained a branch of the Euhaw church.
The work at Tuckaseeking was continued in 1771 by
Edmund Botsford, who had just completed a course of
literary and theological training under the direction of
Oliver Hart and as a beneficiary of the Education Fund
of the Charleston Association. He was greatly aided and
encouraged by Francis Pelot, the pastor of the Euhaw
church. Botsford did not confine his labors to Tuckaseek-
ing, but evangelized on both sides of the river from Savan-
nah to Kiokee, north of Augusta. He devoted himself
entirely to evangelistic work from 1772 onward, and many
were converted under his preaching.
CiiAP. IV. J DANIEL MARSHALL. • 317
A still more important event in the history of Georgia
Baptists was the settlement of the venerable pioneer Sepa-
rate Baptist missionary, Daniel Marshall, in Columbia
County, about twenty miles northwest of Augusta. This
occurred in January, 1771. Marshall was now sixty-four
years old and had behind him a truly apostolic record.
Almost equally useful was his wife, a sister of Shubael
Stearns. His son Abraham was to follow nobly in the
footsteps of his parents and to become one of the most
useful ministers of his time. As the Church of England
haci been established by law in the colony in 1758, an
officious magistrate had Marshall arraigned for violation
of the law. He defended himself with such unction that
constable and magistrate were both deeply impressed and
afterward converted.
The first Baptist church in Georgia was that founded at
Kiokee (now Applington) by Daniel Marshall. This church
was incorporated by the colonial authorities in I 789 as " the
Anabaptist Church on Kioka."
Shortly after the organization of the Kiokee church
Botsford was the guest of Colonel Barnard, the magistrate
before whom Marshall had been arraigned, and was in-
troduced by him to the venerable missionary. Botsford
preached and IMarshall was pleased. " I can take thee
by the hand and call thee brother," he said, " for some-
how I ne\'er heard convarsion better explained in mv life."
Thus a fraternal relation was established between the
Regular and Separate workers in Georgia that was to
prove highly advantageous. Marshall died in 1784, hav-
ing lived to see six Baptist churches formed in Georgia
and having presided at the organization of the Georgia
Association (1784).
Botsford was not ordained until March, 1773. His con-
verts had been baptized by Marshall and the ministers of
3l8 THE BAPriSrS. [Per. n.
the Charleston Association. He was abundant in labors,
and so rapidly did he move from place to place that he
was sometimes called the "flying preacher." He carried
forward his work in Georgia with unremitting zeal until
1779. Having built up a strong church in Burke County
(the Brier Creek), he founded two others and prepared
the way for more. Along with Abraham Marshall and
Silas Mercer, he felt obliged to flee before the British
after the defeat of General Ashe at Brier Creek (March,
1779). But Daniel Marshall, hero that he was, stood at
his post, nothing daunted. He was instant in season and
out of season. At musters or races, in the open field, in
the market-place, in the army, or in the home, he was al-
ways ready to proclaim salvation through a crucified Re-
deemer, and multitudes heeded his earnest words. One
of the chief means by which Marshall was so largely suc-
cessful in evangelization was the encouragement and em-
ployment of lay preaching. A large number of young
men, most of whom became useful ministers, were licensed
to preach anci were ready to assume pastorates as new
churches were organized. Of this number were Silas
Mercer and Abraham Marshall.
Before the beginning of the war (1776) there were three
(possibly four) churches in Georgia: Kiokee (1772); Bots-
ford's (1773); Red's Creek (1774). There was a church
on Buckhead Creek organized before or during the war.
It became extinct, its loyalist pastor, Matthew Moore,
having left the country. Two churches were organized
during the war: Little Brier Creek (1777) and Fishing
Creek (1782). These were all in the neighborhood of
Augusta.
The formation of the Georgia Association (preliminary
meeting, October, 1784; first meeting for business. May,
1785) was an event of first importance in the history of
Chap. IV.] 77/^ GEORGIA ASSOCIATION. 319
Georgia Baptists. It was soon to become one of the
strongest and most influential bodies in the denomination,
and its record has been in every way a most honorable
one. During the earlier time (till 1791) it held two ses-
sions each year.
When the Association was organized (1784) there were
only six Baptist churches in Georgia. From this time
onward the growth of the denomination was rapid and
steady. In Wilkes County twenty-two churches were
formed between 1784 and 1790. Silas Mercer was the
leader, but he had the enthusiastic support of a large
number of licentiates, some of whom were ordained before
the latter date. Mercer was a somewhat stern doctrinal
preacher, but he carried conviction wherever he went and
multitudes were converted through his ministry. He was,
after Daniel Marshall's death, the leader of the churches
of the Association. But he is best known as the father
of Jesse Mercer, whose name will ever be treasured by
Georgia Baptists. One of the most amiable, laborious, and
successful ministers of this time was Abraham Marshall.
Born in i 748, before his father left New Jingland on his
wonderful missionary tour southward, he was baptized
when twenty-two years of age and at once began to
preach. Until i 784 he itinerated almost constantly. ITe
succeeded his father in the pastorate of the Kiokee church,
yet continued to travel much as an e\angelist.
The Association ha\-ing by i 794 increased to fifty-six
churches (of which four or more were in South Carolina),
a division was deemed advisable and the Hepzibah Asso-
ciation was formed. This included most of the churches
in Richmond, Burke, Jefferson, Warren, and Washington
counties. The Sarepta Association, formed in i 799, was
a second offshoot from the Georgia and included the
churclies of Oglethorpe, Elbert, and Franklin counties.
320 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
The first colored Baptist church in Georgia was organ-
ized in Savannah, with the help of Abraham Marshall, in
1788 The church was gathered through the labors of
George Leile (or Sharp), a remarkable colored man, who
had been converted in Burke County about 1774 through
the preaching of Matthew Moore, the loyalist already
mentioned. Leile fled to Jamaica at the close of the war.
One of his converts, Andrew Bryan, took up the work.
These colored Baptists were cruelly persecuted, and dis-
played considerable heroism in their devotion to the faith.
By I 788 persecution had ceased. In four years the mem-
bership had risen from eighty to two hundred and fifty, while
there were three hundred and fifty others who were ap-
plicants for membership. Nearly all the churches doubt-
less had a considerable contingent of colored members at
this time.
The close of the century was a period of marked de-
pression in denominational life and work. A number of
the earlier leaders had passed away, and inactivity and dis-
couragement had followed the great revivals of the earlier
time. A new set of men, better educated and abler than
those of the past, were now coming forward and would
lead the denomination to still nobler achievements. The
most prominent of these were Henry Holcombe, Joseph
Clay, and Jesse Mercer.
Holcombe was born in Virginia in 1762, but was
brought up in South Carolina. He became a cavalry
officer before he was twenty-one. Converted at twenty-
two, he began at once to exhort others to flee from the
wrath to come. His first sermon was preached on horse-
back to his troops. Led to Baptist views by a stud\' of the
New Testament, he rode twenty miles to get himself bap-
tized. He so impressed his views on his own and his wife's
family that several of them becam.e Baptists. He was or-
Chap, iv.] HENRY IWLCOMBE. 32 1
dained to the ministry in 1785 and soon took his place
among the foremost preachers of the State. He was a
member of the convention that approved the United
States Constitution. After serving the Euhaw church for
some time he was prevailed upon to undertake work in
Savannah, where a number of Baptists resided and various
efforts had been ineffectively made to found a Baptist
church. The Charleston church had taken a deep interest
in the cause at Savannah and had assisted in building a
meeting-house (1795). This had been rented to an inde-
pendent Presbyterian congregation, who joined with the
Baptists in inviting Holcombe. The congregation must
have been a wealthy one, for Holcombe received a salary
of $2000 a year, probably the largest ever received by a
Baptist minister up to that time. A Baptist church con-
sisting of ten members besides himself and wife was or-
ganized in November, 1800. By 1802 the membership
had increased to sixty and the Presbyterians withdrew.
Among the members were the widow of Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor Jones and Judge Joseph Clay. Holcombe remained
in this position until 181 1, when he accepted a call to
Philadelphia. As pulpit orator, writer, organizer, and
originator of schemes for the advancement of the denomi-
national work, he deserves to be placed side by side with
his friend Richard Furman as one of the ablest men of his
time. Like Furman, he had a magnificent physique, being
six feet two inches in height, and weighing three hundred
pounds. He is said to have originated the Georgia peni-
tentiary system and to have led in founding the Savannah
Female Orphan Asylum. He was among the first to ad-
vocate and plan for concerted denominational action in
education and missions. He was the moving .spirit in the
founding of Mount Enon Academy for the education of
Baptist youth. He seems to have been the first among
322 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
American Baptists to publish a religious periodical (the
"Analytical Repository," 1802-03).
Mention has already been made of Jesse Mercer as the
worthy son of Silas Mercer. During the first decade of
the century he stood side by side with Holcombe in his
advocacy of education, missions, and concerted denomina-
tional action, and after the departure of Holcombe he was
for years the recognized leader of the progressive element
of the denomination. Born in North Carolina in 1 769,
he was brought by his parents to Wilkes County, Ga.,
when an infant. In 1787 he was baptized by his father
and, after the manner of the Separate Baptists of that
time, began almost immediately to labor for the salvation
of souls. Before he had completed his twentieth year he
was ordained to the ministry. He secured such education
as was at that time available in this newly settled country,
and through the industrious application of his strong in-
tellect became an able theologian. His career as editor
of a denominational paper, promoter of the State Conven-
tion, and leader in the establishment and endowment of
Mercer University, falls in the next period.
No worthier name appears on the records of this period
than that of the Hon. Joseph Clay. He was a son of a
Revolutionary colonel of the same name, who had been a
member of the Continental Congress (1778-80) and had
held other high positions. Converted to Baptist views
under the ministry of Henry Holcombe, he left his high
judicial position to become a humble Baptist minister.
He was baptized and licensed in 1802 and ordained in
1804. He served ably as a member of the General Com-
mittee for a number of years and in 1807 was called to
succeed Stillman as pastor of the First Church, Boston.
He was a graduate of Princeton College. As a member
of the Georgia Constitutional Convention of 1798 he had
CHAr. IV.] THE rOWELTON CONFERENCE. 323
the honor of drafting the revised constitution. He died
in 181 1, in the forty-seventh year of his age.
The Savannah Association was formed in 1802, under
Holcombe's direction, and consisted at first of Holcombe's
Savannah church, the colored Savannah cluirch, and the
Newington church, twenty miles up the river. Two other
colored churches were added in 1803. The membership
of the white churches was eighty-four, while that of the
colored churches was eight hundred and fifty.
In view of the languishing condition of denominational
life already referred to, leading brethren, after consulta-
tion, called a Conference at Powelton (iSoi), where Jesse
Mercer was pastor. Steps were taken for the supplying
of destitute churches and for opening up new fields by
the employment of missionaries. In the years of fresh
enthusiasm church extension had gone forward sponta-
neously, but the time had come when deliberate planning
and concerted action were necessary. The Methodists,
organized and aggressive, were in the field, and Baptists
must organize or be left far behind. Steps were taken,
also, toward the evangelization of the Indians. At this
meeting it was proposed that " a General Committee of
the Georgia Baptists should be formed, consisting of three
members from each Association in the State, the leading
object of which should be, to meet and confer with other
Christian societies, in order to remove diff'erences, and, if
possible, bring about a more general and close union
among real Christians on the principles of eternal truth."
The General Committee was constituted by the favor-
able action of the Associations and held its first meeting at
Powelton, April 30, 1803. It issued an address "to the
Baptist Associations, and all gospel ministers, not of their
order, within this State," signed by Abraham Marshall as
chairman and Henry Holcombe as secretary. The first
324 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
part of the document is an effort to remove the objections
that had been raised in the Associations to the constitu-
tion of the General Committee, and is a strong plea for
united action. The committee is spoken of as " a bond of
union, center of intelligence, and advisory council to the
Baptists of this State." " The leading object of this Com-
mittee is to advance your general interests by drawing
your lights to a focus and giving unity, consistency, and,
consequently, energy and effect to your exertions in the
cause of God. With a steady view to an object so desir-
able and important, we trust that converted individuals,
unconnected with any religious society, and of our denom-
inational sentiments, will join themselves to our churches ;
that the churches will punctually support their represent-
atives in the Associations ; and that these venerable bodies
will appear by three delegates from each at the time and
place appointed for the meeting of this Committee. In
that case the seats which we have the honor to fill, as the
Committee of the late Conference, we shall most cheer-
fully resign to your delegates ; but so' essential to the
Baptist interests in this State do we deem the General
Committee, that, should there be a deficiency in your rep-
resentation, we are bound, as appears by our Minutes, to
supply it by the method which may appear most eligible."
Since the first meeting of the Conference in 1801 there
had been a great religious awakening, and this was attrib-
uted in some measure to the activity of the Conference.
The second session of the Conference (1802) had taken
steps toward a general union; the third session (1803)
matured the plan for formal presentation to the Associa-
tions, reserving the right to continue the organized efforts
for concerted denominational action whether the Associa^
tions should approve or disapprove.
The second part of the document, addressed to " all
Chap, iv.] CHRISTIAN UXIOX. 325
gospel ministers, not of our order," is significant of the
broad-mindedness of the members of the Conference and
their earnest aspirations after Christian union. It reads as
follows: " Reverend Brethren: We are assured by revela-
tion, and have the happiness to feel, that all who love our
Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity make but one family. If
of this description, our Father, our elder Brother, and the
Spirit that is given us, are the same ; and the same our
hopes, our fears, our desires, our aversions, our sorrows,
and our pleasures. Whenever we act like aliens toward
each other, it is because we are disguised by our imper-
fections, or misrepresented by our adversaries. Impressed
with these sentiments, we shall be happy to see you all, or
any of you, at our next meeting, that we may enjoy the
opportunity, in our public cajjacity, of evincing to you and
to the world our sincere disposition and earnest desire to
cultivate and maintain friendship and fellowship, not only
with you, but with all the true followers of Jesus Christ
of your respective denominations. . . . We are cordially
willing to add, in conjunction with you, our best endeavors
to remove every obstacle to our communion at that board
which, we trust, will be succeeded by an infinitel}^ richer
banquet in our Father's house. With the greatest respect
and aflfection, we invite you, Reverend Brethren, to an in-
vestigation, in order to a Scriptural adjustment of the com-
paratively small points in which we differ."
This union plank of the platform of the Conference was
looked upon with suspicion by many and proved an ob-
stacle to the cordial cooperation of the Associations.
Nothing seems to have come of it, as it is not likely that
the members of the Conference themselves were willing to
surrender any of their denominational tenets, and it was
scarcely to be expected that the pedobaptists would all at
once, in response to such overtures, abandon what Bap-
326 THE BArriSTS. [Per. ii.
tists have ever regarded as an unscriptural and unwar-
ranted practice. Two Episcopal and two Methodist minis-
ters were present at the meeting of 1804, but not in any
representative capacity. Yet the committee resolved " to
continue their sincere efforts to promote " Christian union
" by all means consistent with the rights of conscience
and a plain declaration of the whole revealed counsel
of God."
Christian education occupied almost the entire attention
of this session of the General Committee. It was unani-
mously resolved to take immediate measures for establish-
ing a literary institution to be denominated " The Baptist
College of Georgia," and a committee of five was appointed
to secure from the legislature a charter for the incorpora-
tion of the General Committee as " The Trustees of the
Baptist College of Georgia." A circular letter on "The
Importance of Education " was addressed to the churches.
The effort to secure a charter was unsuccessful, but at
the next meeting of the General Committee it was " re-
solved unanimously, that the Committee would persevere
in their efforts to establi-sh a college or seminary of learn-
ing for the education of youth of every denomination,
though they should never obtain the slightest legislative
aid."
The Circular Address of 1805, drafted by Jesse Mercer,
is a document of great interest. The first part is an ex-
planation of the committee's position on the communion
question: " Though to commune at the Lord's table with
all the truly gracious is desirable in the extreme, and
though it is the duty of all ministers to exert themselves
to lead all the followers of the meek and lowly Jesus in
tJie unity ( f the Spirit and tltc Invuh of peace, yet it should
seem that this duty must be discharged with a truly pious
and inflexible regard to the purity, sufficiency, and unity
Chap, iv.] A CIRCULAR ADDRESS. 327
of the gospel. That no unrighteous compact be formed,
directly or indirectly, with unbehevers or the Sons of
Belial, that violence be practiced on no ordinance or doc-
trine of God's holy Word, and that proper measures should
be adopted and pursued till all the churches of the saints
be freed from all those superstitious innovations, human
traditions, and vile hypocrisies which have been so long
the disgrace of their solemn Assemblies, and still are the
baneful sources of that unhappy difference which now
wards off the desired communion. This done, and com-
munion will instantly follow in beautiful, sweet, and desir-
able succession; but this not done, and we are obliged to
think that it would be undesirable and destructive."
The effort to secure a charter and the incorporation of
the committee seems to have been misunderstood or mis-
represented by some brethren as an attempt to establish
the Baptist form of religion by law. The utter incongruity
of such a supposition is abl}' shown in the Address : " Such
a measure adopted by the Baptists would set them in di-
rect opposition to their openly avowed, most sacred and
distinguishing principles of faith ; and also cast the most
undeserved contempt upon that temper and disposition of
mind which so long, without variation or abatement, dis-
tinguished them as the zealous advocates of Civil and Re-
ligious Liberty. When things are placed in this light, it
is evident that, except we could dishonor ourselves, depose
the church, subvert religion, and desert the divine will, we
cannot have any clandestine views in contemplation." It
is evident that in their efforts to elevate the denomination
to the height of its privileges the General Committee had
a large amount of Baptist ignorance and bigotry to contend
with.
The educational policy of the committee is next vin-
dicated. " It has been thought we are adopting measures
^28 THE BAPTISTS. [I'kr. ii.
to establish in our church — in particular — a learned minis-
try." The Address proceeds to show that the evils of
an educated ministry have been due not to the education
but to other causes. There was a widespread fear amoni^
Baptists at this time lest a man-made ministry should take
the place of a Spirit-impelled ministry. The Address
claims that if the circumstances that have tended to sub-
stitute education for piety " could be detached, learning
would immediately shine forth in its native luster and in-
trinsic worth, tending to the better state of society in
general. To that part of this work which belongs to the
divine agency, we make no pretensions; but so far as
learning will tend to the removal of ignorance, prejudice,
and presumption, so far it is ours, and should be attended
to with promptitude and perseverance. . . . The proposed
college is not, therefore, designed for the education of our
children, nor is this seat of learning one in which young
men already in the ministry sJiall, but may be, further
taught in some proper degree. But it is to be viewed as
a civil institution to be religiously guarded and conducted
for the better education of the rising generation and com-
mon interests of morality and religion. . . . That we have
it in our power to do good in no way to greater advant-
age than by establishing some lasting source of knowl-
edge and moral virtue is a certain truth. To hand down
to the next generation a number of young men both moral
and sensible must not fail to awaken the warmest desires
and provoke the best endeavors of all well-disposed
parents."
In 1806 the General Committee detached itself from
the Associations, became a close corporation with power
to fill vacancies, and took measures for the establishment
of Mount Enon College on a beautiful sand-hill in Rich-
mond County between the Savannah and Ogeechee rivers.
Cir.vi'. IV.] THE GEXERAL CO^LMITTEE. 329
Holcombe, who presented the property, guaranteed the sale
of $2600 worth of building lots, thus creating a fund for
the erection of buildings.
The committee decided this year to " appoint two
agents — one to preach on the western frontier of the
State and visit the Creek Nation with reference to tlie
establishment of a school as the germ of a mission there ;
and the other to make a preaching tour throughout the
United States to solicit funds to aid in establishing Mount
Enon College."
The General Committee as it was reconstructed at this
time consisted of Benjamin Brooks, Joseph Clay, Lewis
C. Da\'is, Stephen Gafford, Henry Holcombe, Abraham
Marshall, James Matthews, Jesse Mercer, Benjamin Mose-
ley, Thomas Polhill, Thomas Rhodes, and Charles O.
Screven. Holcombe was appointed president, Mercer
vice-president, Polhill secretary, and B. S. Screven treas-
urer. C. O. Screven, a grandson of the father of South
Carolina Baptists, was appointed president of the college.
While refusing to grant a university charter, the legislature
incorporated the trustees of the academy. The institution
failed to receive adequate denominational support. The
location proved to be unsuitable, and several schools of
similar grade were soon afterward opened at various
points. It did not long survive Dr. Holcombe's removal
to Philadelphia (181 1). But the agitation that had re-
sulted in its establishment was not in vain. A large part
of the denomination had been convinced that education
could not safely or righteously be neglected. Experience
had been gained which would prove invaluable in the
inauguration and management of the later educational
enterprises that were to result in the establishment of
Mercer University. The application for a charter was
doubtless premature. The legislature rightly withheld a
330 THE BATTISTS, [I^er. ii.
charter until the denomination should show itself capable
of founding and sustaining a worthy institution and es-
pecially until the denomination as such should express a
desire for a charter. The work of the General Committee
was of the utmost value, not simply for what it actually
accomplished, but because it prepared the way for con-
certed denominational action. The State Convention
of a later time, with its highly beneficent activities, was
a result.
The Baptists of Georgia were little disturbed by doc-
trinal dissension. About 1786 Jeremiah Walker, who
had been a leading advocate of Arminianism among the
Virginia Separate Baptists, and who had been deposed
from the ministry for misconduct but afterward restored,
appeared among the Baptists of Georgia and by his elo-
quence and ability soon gained considerable influence. In
his attempt to promulgate Arminian views he had the
support of David Tinsley, who had suffered imprisonment
with him in Virginia for fidelity to Baptist principles,
Matthew Talbot, and Nathaniel Hall. They were op-
posed by the great mass of the denomination, and after
earnest efforts had been made to win them from error they
were duly excommunicated. Walker died shortly after-
ward, and the Arminian movement practically died with
him. The intrusion of Arminian teaching at this time
was looked upon as all the more to be deprecated from
the fact that the Methodists were pressing into the State.
Two South Carolina churches that belonged to the Georgia
Association followed Hall in his Arminianism and formed
a separate Association which continued for a number of
years.
The case of James Hutchinson, whose immersion by a
Methodist minister had been accepted by the Georgia
Baptists but repudiated by the Baptists of Virginia,
Chap, iv.] COLORED BAPTISTS. 33 1
caused considerable embarrassment, and it was the opin-
ion of the Georgia Baptist leaders that a serious mistake
had been made in the matter.
As has already appeared, the Baptists of Georgia were
attentive to the spiritual needs of the colored population,
and the colored churches and their pastors were treated
with the utmost courtesy and consideration. By 18 10
the population of Georgia had reached 252,432, of whom
145,414 were slaves. A number of large churches had
been built up by the labors of colored preachers, encour-
aged by their white brethren ; and most of the white
churches had large numbers of colored members. One
of the most noted of the colored ministers was Andrew
Bryan, of Savannah. In 1812 the Savannah Association
adopted the following minute: "The Association is sensi-
bly affected by the death of the Rev. Andrew Bryan, a
man of color, and pastor of the First Colored Church in
Savannah. This son of Africa, after suffering inexpre' si-
ble persecutions in the cause of his divine Master, was at
length permitted to discharge the duties of the ministry
among his colored friends in peace and quiet, hundreds of
whom, through his instrumentality, were brought to a
knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. He closed his
extensively useful and amazingly luminous course in the
Hvely exercise of faith, and in the joyful hope of a happy
immortality." Equally eminent and respected were An-
drew Marshall, of Savannah, and Jacob Walker, of Augusta.
It is said that at the death of the latter " the whole city
of Augusta manifested the greatest respect and sorrow,
as for one of its most eminent citizens."
The period closed in the midst of one of the greatest
religious awakenings ever known in Georgia. Nearly all
the Baptist pastors turned evangelists, and with wonderful
enthusiasm covered the State with their missionary activ-
332 THE BAPTISTS. [Pkr. ii.
ity. Churches were springing up everywhere, and the
denomination was ready to enter at once upon the great
advance movement to which Providence was pointing by
the conversion of Judson and Rice.
The six churches of i 784 had a membership of 428. In
1792 there were 50 churches and 321 1 members. The
number of ministers reported was 72. This inchides
licentiates or helpers, and shows a state of great religious
activity in the churches.
In 181 3 there were five Associations (the Ocmulgee, not
previously mentioned, was formed in 18 10 by a further
division of the Georgia), containing 164 churches and
15,755 members.
CHAPTER V.
KENTUCKY, TENNESSEE, OHIO, INDIANA, ILLINOIS,
MISSOURI, MISSISSIPPI, AND LOUISIANA.^
The planting of Baptist churches in Kentucky and Ten-
nessee was virtually an extension of the field of the Bap-
tists of Virginia and North Carolina. As these new and
fertile regions were opened up for settlement thousands of
Baptists from the older communities were among the pio-
neers. Naturally they formed churches wherever enough
Baptists were within reach of one another.
Among the earliest explorers of Kentucky were Daniel
Boone and his brother. Squire Boone. The latter was a
Baptist, as were also several members of the great pioneer's
family. Boonesborough was settled in 1775, the Boones
having been joined by Colonel Richard Calloway and his
family, likewise Baptists. Early in 1776 Thomas Tinsley
and William Hickman, Baptist ministers, settled at Har-
rodsburg. Within the next few years a large number of
Baptists came into this land of promise, among them Gen-
eral Henry Crist, General Aquila Whitaker, General Joseph
Lewis, Colonel Robert Johnson, Colonel William Bush,
Hon. James Garrard, Gabriel Slaughter, and the Clays.
Most of these titles were probably gained at a later date.
Several other Baptist ministers settled in the new territory
in I 779-80, among them William Marshall, John W'hitaker,
1 Cf. Benedict; Paxton ; " Bapt. Memorial" (various articles, especially
those by J. M. Peck) ; and Duncan.
333
334 '^t^E. BAPTISTS. [Per. n.
l)enjamin Lynn, John Garrard, and Joseph Barnett. Gar-
rard is the minister who came to Virginia from the Phil-
adelphia Association about 1755 and who was so largely
useful in building up the churches of the Ketokton Asso-
ciation. A number of other Virginia ministers visited
Kentucky at this time and sought to awaken the people
to a sense of their obligation to attend to the gathering of
churches and the evangelization of the country. But the
people were so taken up with clearing the ground and
protecting themselves from Indians that they w^ere little
disposed to enter upon aggressive Christian work.
The first Baptist church organized was that still known
as Severn's Valley (June, i 781). Joseph Barnett and John
Garrard were the ministers present. In July following the
same ministers constituted the Cedar Creek church, forty
miles southeast of Louisville. In the autumn of the same
year a church, with its pastor, Lewis Craig, removed from
Spottsylvania County, Va., and settled on Gilbert's Creek.
The Forks of Dix Creek church was organized in 1782;
Providence, South Elkhorn, and Gilbert's Creek (Separate
Baptist) in i 783 ; and Beargrass in 1 784. In i 785 there
was a revival which resulted in the formation of nine ad-
ditional churches. Most of the Baptist immigrants were
from Virginia, but a few families came from Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, and the Carolinas.
Three Associations were formed in i 785 — two of Regular
Baptists, Elkhorn and Salem ; and one of Separate Bap-
tists, the South Kentucky. From this time onward the
growth of the denomination, like the growth of the popu-
lation of the territory, was exceedingly rapid. About a
fourth of the Baptists of Virginia found new homes in
Kentucky.
In I 793 an effort was made to bring about an amalgama-
tion of Regular and Separate Baptists, such as had already
CiiAr. v.] KEGi^LAKS AXD SEPARATES. 335
taken place in Virginia and North Carolina. But the Reg-
ulars were probably rather extreme in their Calvinism and
inclined to lay too much stress on the acceptance of the
Confession of Faith, while the Separates had an aversion
for confessions and some of them a leaning toward Armin-
ianism. Those churches of both parties that were eager
for union withdrew and formed an Association of " United
Baptists " (the Tate's Creek).
From I 793 to the end of the century was a period of
spiritual dearth. Infidelity and immorality increased at
an alarming rate. But in 1800 and the following years
the entire State was stirred by the greatest revival in its
history. Presbyterians and Methodists were by this time
on the field, and these participated in the Great Awaken-
ing. Phenomena of the most distressing kind attended
the re\ival meetings of all denominations. Peculiar nerv-
ous conditions accompanied strong religious conviction.
What was ktiown as the "jerks" was common, and those
awakened sometimes barked and sometimes danced. The
Baptist membership in the State was doubled by this
awakening.
As Regulars and Separates alike participated in this
movement they were naturally drawn nearer to each other
in sympathy and lo\-e, and terms of union were finally
agreed upon in iSoi. The short confession that formed
the basis of union asserts the final perseverance of the
saints and allows the preaching of the doctrine that Christ
tasted death for every man. Most of the articles are so
general that Arminians and Calvinists might agree in ac-
cepting them. Freedom is allowed to each party to con-
tinue its associational and church arrangements.
John Gano, who in his early ministry had labored with
such zeal and success in the Carolinas and Virginia, and
since i 762 had been pastor of the V'wsi Church, New York,
336 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
removed to Kentucky in i 788, somewhat broken in health,
but ready for years of noble service. He died in 1804.
In 1784 there were only 6 churches in the State, with a
membership of something over 400 ; by i 792 the number
of churches had increased to 42 and that of members to
3095 ; by 181 2 the churches numbered 285 and the mem-
bers 22,694. The population, which in 1775 was almost
nothing, had increased to T^fiT] by 1790, and by 1810 to
406,511.
The early Baptists of Kentucky were, as a rule, thor-
oughly imbued with prejudice against educated and sala-
ried ministers. The experience of early Virginia Baptists
in being taxed for the support of irreligious and vicious
clergymen, whose only recommendation was that they had
received a university education, led them to look with sus-
picion upon the highly educated and to prefer a ministry
from the ranks of the people earning a support by follow-
ing secular pursuits. These sentiments becaiiie intensified
in Kentucky, where for a long time educational facilities
were almost wanting.
There were Baptists in Eastern Tennessee soon after
1765, and two churches are said to have been organized.
They were driven out by the Indians in 1774. No par-
ticulars have been preserved. About i 780 a large number
of Baptists, with eight or ten ministers, removed from
Virginia and North Carolina to the Holston country in
Eastern Tennessee. A colony from the old Sandy Creek
church of North Carolina settled on Boone's Creek. Five
or six churches having been gathered by 1781, it was ar-
ranged that they should meet together twice a year in
Conference. They remained members of the Sandy Creek
Association until i 786, when it was thought best to organ-
ize the Holston Association. Most of these Baptists were
of the Separate variety, but there was no doctrinal discord
Chap, v.] MIDDLE TENNESSEE. 337
and the Philadelphia Confession was adopted. By 1802,
as a result of further immigration and especially of the
great revival of the preceding two years, the Association
had added twenty-nine churches to its original seven, and
had a membership of about twenty-five hundred. The
Tennessee Association was formed in 1803 by a division
of the Holston.
The Cumberland region (Middle Tennessee) began to be
settled in i 780. It is probable that some Baptists were in
the first company of three hundred led by General James
Robertson. In 1791 Ambrose Dudley and John Taylor,
of Kentucky, traveled two hundred miles through the
wilderness to aid in organizing the Tennessee church at
the mouth of the Sulphur Fork River. It united with the
Elkhorn Association. There was no other church within
one hundred miles of the Tennessee until the White's
Creek church was formed in 1794. A church organized
in North Carolina was transplanted to the head of the
Sulphur Fork in 1795. Their pastor was Joseph Dorris,
who became the cause of much trouble to the church and
the Association. Two other churches had "been formed
by 1796, one of them out of fragments of an older church
scattered by the Indians in 1774. The five united in
forming the Mero Association in 1797. Early in the
present century charges against the character of Dorris
were brought before the Association. After man}^ efforts
to solve the difficulties involved without a dix'ision, the
Association was disbanded and those who adhered to
Dorris were left out of the new Cumberland Association
that took its place (1803). This region seems to have
shared largely in the great revival of the early part of the
century. By 1806 the Cumberland Association had in-
creased to thirty-nine churches, and its territory had be-
come so extensive that a division was thoug^ht ad\-isable.
338 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
The Red River Association was the result. A third As-
sociation, the Concord, was formed in 1810 by a further
division of the Cumberland. It prospered greatly for a
time, nearly nine hundred having been added to its mem-
bership in 1 81 2; but serious divisions on doctrine almost
wrecked it a few years later. The Elk River Association
was formed in 1806 and had grown to be a vigorous body
by 1812.
The economic and social conditions were much the same
in Tennessee as in Kentucky. The land was fertile, but
had to be laboriously brought into cultivation, and Indians
were numerous and ferocious. Educational advantages
were of the poorest, and the same causes were operative
here as in Kentucky, Virginia, and North Carolina to
create a deep-seated aversion to educated and salaried
ministers. The missionary and educational movement of
the next period was to find in Tennessee some of its most
determined opponents.
The growth of the denomination in Tennessee during
this period may be illustrated by the following statistics:
In 1784 there were 6 churches, with less than 400 mem-
bers; in 1792 there were 21 churches and about 900 mem-
bers; by 181 2 the churches had increased to 156 and the
membership to 11,325.
Ohio was settled late in the present period, but Baptists
were early on the ground. In 1789 a number of Baptist
families from Coimecticut, New York, and New Jersey
formed a settlement on the Little Miami at Columbia, now
within the hmits of Cincinnati. Among these were Isaac
Ferris, from Connecticut, Judge Goforth and General John
Gano, from New York, and Benjamin and Elijah Stites,
from New Jersey. Gano was a son of the famous preacher.
There was no minister in the company, but the brethren
took turns in conducting the services. In 1790 Stephen
Chap, v.] A GERMAN CHURCH. 339
Gano, pastor of the First Church, Providence, and brother
of the general, visited the settlement, baptized three con-
verts, and assisted in organizing the first evangelical church
north of the Ohio River. The first pastor of the church
was John Smith, who afterward became a member of the
United States Senate. By 1797 three other churches had
sprung up in the neighborhood : Miami Island, Carpenter's
Run, and Clear Creek. These four united at this time in
forming the Miami Association. Turtle Creek and Little
Prairie churches soon joined the Association. The other
pastors were Peter Smith, James Lee, and Daniel Clarke.
Joshua Carman and Josiah Dodge, from Kentucky, were
present when the Association was formed. The ministry
was soon reinforced by the accession of John Sutton,
Joshua Carman, and John Mason, the two last from Ken-
tucky. As the Columbia church became speedily the
mother of churches, so the Miami Association became the
mother of Associations.
In 1 80 1 a Baptist church of German extraction removed
from Shenandoah County, Va., to the Scioto River district
in Ohio. They settled at Pleasant Run, near Lancaster.
In 1809 the church had three ministers, named Stites,
Comer, and Cofman, who could conduct services in both
German and English. At about the same date a company
of Baptists from New England formed a church at Ames.
This church united with the Pleasant Run (1805) in form-
ing the Scioto Association.
The remaining Associations formed during this period
are the Muskingum (181 1) and the Mad River (1812).
These resulted from a subdivision of the Miami, whose
churches had become too numerous and widespread con-
veniently to assemble.
The 'Baptist life of Ohio was more heterogeneous than
that in most of the other newly opened territories, and
340 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
considerable discord was to be expected. The advance
movement of the succeeding period was to meet with less
opposition here than in some of the States. This was due
in part, no doubt, to the fact that in the settlement of the
country the New England and Middle States were in the
ascendency.
In 1790 Ohio had 2 Baptist churches and 64 members;
in 1 8 12, 60 churches and 2400 members were reported.
Indiana received its earliest Baptist population from
Kentucky and Ohio about 1797. A church, afterward
known as the Silver Creek, was organized about i 798 (so
" Bapt. Encyc," vol. i., p. 575 ; but Peck, in Benedict, 864,
gives 1802). The minister to whose labors the gathering
of the church was due was Isaac Edwards, a native of
New Jersey. William McCoy, of Kentucky, had previ-
ously given much labor to this region. The son of the
latter, Isaac McCoy, was one of the most useful ministers
in Indiana during the latter part of this period and the
early years of the next.
The first churches formed in the Wabash re<^ion were
the Wabash and the Bethel (1806). The Patoka and the
Salem churches followed in 1808, and the Maria Creek in
1809. The Wabash District Association was organized in
1808. The churches on the Whitewater had at first held
associational relations with the Miami Association of Ohio,
In 1809 the Whitewater Association was formed. The
Silver Creek Association began its career in 1812 with
eight churches and a membership of two hundred and
seventy. There was little to distinguish the early In-
diana Baptists from those of Kentucky and Ohio, from
whom they were chiefly derived. The modern move-
ment, with its missions, education, Sunda}'-schools, etc.,
was to find some of its most inveterate opponents in this
new State.
C'hai". v.] /LLINOIS. 341
In 1812 there were in the whole of Indiana 29 churches
and I 726 members.
lUinois was not opened to settlement till after 1778.
The first Protestant settlers are said to have been Baptists.
In 1786 a number of families from Virginia and Kentucky
occupied the American Bottom and the hill-country of
Monroe County. It appears that none of these had been
members of Baptist churches, but they observed the Lord's
Day, trained their children, and held meetings for worship.
In 1787, and afterward, they were visited by James Smith,
a Kentucky Baptist m/nister, w^ho did good service. On
one of his visits he was captured by Indians and had to
be ransomed at heavy cost. In 1 794 Josiah Dodge, of
Kentucky, visited Illinois and baptized a number of per-
sons, but organized no church. The first church in this
territory was constituted in 1 796 by David Badgeley,
who had just removed with his family from Virginia. It
was called the New Design church and had twenty-eight
constituent members. Fifteen of these had just been bap-
tized as a result of evangelistic meetings, in which Badgeley
had been assisted by Joseph Chance.
By 1807 four other churches had been organized — the
Mississippi Bottom, the Richland, the Wood River, and
the Silver Creek. At this time they united in forming
the Illinois Union Association. Two years later diffi-
culties arose with reference to correspondence with Ken-
tucky Associations in which slavery prevailed. Those
opposed to holding fellowship with slave-holders with-
drew, adopted the designation " Friends to Humanity,"
and organized the South District Association on an anti-
slavery basis.
The Wabash District Association (1809) contained a
number of Illinois churches along with those belonging to
Indiana, and later the Illinois element preponderated.
342 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
In i8i2 there were in Illinois 7 churches and 153 mem-
bers.
Missouri was the name given in 1812 to the large ter-
ritory, previously known as Upper Louisiana, ceded by
France to the United States in 1804. It embraced what
has been subdivided into Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Ne-
braska, and much besides. During the Spanish and French
regime Roman Catholicism was the only form of Christian-
ity tolerated ; but a few Protestants had slipped in with the
connivance of the authorities. Among these were a num-
ber of Baptists. In fact. Baptists seem to have been the
very first to carry evangelical religion beyond the Mis-
sissippi. Thomas Bull, his wife, and her mother, Mrs. Lee,
settled in Cape Girardeau County in 1796. In 1797 Enos
Randal and wife and Mrs. Abernathy made their homes a
few miles south of Jackson. No Baptist minister visited
the region until i 799, when Thomas Johnson, of Georgia,
who had devoted much of his life to mission work among
the Cherokee Indians, regardless of the law preached to
small but eager gatherings. He baptized a Mrs. Ballou
and gave her a certificate of baptism. After 1804 there
was a great influx of population from the southwestern
States and Territories. In 1805 David Green, a Virginian
who had labored for years in the Carolinas and Kentucky,
visited the Baptist settlements of Missouri, but soon after-
ward returned to Kentucky. A strong conviction having
seized him that he ought to minister to the neglected
Missouri settlers, he removed to Cape Girardeau County and
during the few years that remained to him (he died in
1809) was instrumental in laying the foundations for Bap-
tist work. The Tywappity Bottom church, with eight or
ten members, was constituted by him in 1805, and the
Bethel church, with fifteen members, in 1806. The former
became extinct after a few years ; the latter became the
Chap, v.] MISSOURI. 343
fruitful mother of churches. The Bethel chapel was the
first evangelical place of worship erected in Missouri.
The church in Jackson is properly the continuation of the
old Bethel church, which was a mile and a half away. The
remnant, after the withdrawal of members to form the Jack-
son and other churches, became anti-missionary and died.
Among the earliest settlers of the St. Louis district
(1796-97) were several of the children and other relatives
of Daniel Boone, who were Baptists. In 1803 (or 1804)
Thomas R. Musick, a Virginian Baptist minister, removed
with a large party of relatives and others to this region.
Three settlements were formed : one near the Spanish
Pond, another between Bridgeton and Florissant, and a
third on Fee Fee's Creek. Elder Musick was the first
Regular Baptist minister to settle in the St. Louis district.
He had visited Missouri as early as 1801, being at that
time resident in Kentucky. He was a man full of zeal and
good works. From the fact that he spent considerable
time in teaching it may be inferred that he had a fair edu-
cation. The Fee Fee's Creek church was organized under
his ministry in 1807, and the Cold Water church in 1809.
Shortly before Musick's first visit to Missouri that some-
what eccentric but devoted and indefatigable evangelist,
John Clark, visited the St. Louis district (1798). Clark
was a well-educated Scotchman (born November, 1758).
Removing to Georgia about 1 786, he was converted in
Methodist meetings, and in 1791 was received on trial as
a preacher. Tn i 794 he was ordained deacon. Becom-
ing dissatisfied with Methodist church polity he severed
his connection with the denomination and in i 796 left on
foot for Kentucky. From Kentucky he went to Illinois,
everywhere preaching the word. He frequently visited
Missouri. About 1803 he had become convinced that
believers are the only proper subjects of baptism and that
344 ^^^^ BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
immersion is the only authorized mode. A hke-minded
independent Methodist brother and he immersed each
other and thus became independent Baptists. He trav-
eled almost constantly, nearly always on foot. Having
been presented with a horse by well-disposed friends, he
soon asked to be relieved of it. To meet his appoint-
ments he would wade and swim sw^oUen streams. No
sort of weather was a bar to his progress. He formed a
number of societies during the last decade of this period
which afterward became Baptist.
By 1812 there were in Missouri 7 Baptist churches, with
a membership of 192. No Association had as yet been
formed.
The territory now comprised in Mississippi received its
first Baptist settlers from South Carolina and Georgia in
1780: In the same year the Salem church on Cole's
Creek, southeast of Natchez, was constituted. Among
these early settlers were the large Curtis family and their
connections. They had been driven from their homes by
the British and their loyalist neighbors, and their journey
had been most tiifficult and perilous. Richard Curtis, Jr.,
was a licensed preacher, and with considerable misgiving
administered the ordinances. John and Jacob Stampley
both became ministers.
Among the early converts was a Spanish Catholic,
Stephen d'Alvoy. The Spanish authorities made no seri-
ous efforts to interfere with the Baptists until 1 793-94,
when, owing to somewhat imprudent denunciations of
Roman Catholicism on the part of some of their leaders,
Curtis was arrested and brought before the Spanish com-
mandant. He was dismissed with the threat of deporta-
tion of himself and other leaders to the mines of Mexico
in case they should persist in violating the law. In i 795
it was ordered that " if nine persons were found worship-
Chap, v.] MISSISSIPPI AXD LOUISIANA. 345
ing together, except according to the forms of the Cathohc
Church, they should suffer imprisonment." An effort was
made in 1795 to arrest Curtis and D'Alvoy, but they es-
caped to South Carolina, where they remained about two
and a half years, and where Curtis was ordained. Other
Baptists were imprisoned and otherwise maltreated. After
Curtis's departure the field was visited by Elder Mulkey
(probably the noted Philip Mulkey, of North Carolina).
An effort of the authorities to arrest him led to resistance
on the part of the congregation, who armed themselves
and proceeded to the fort to demand immunity from
persecution.
The territory was ceded to the United States in 1797.
Curtis returned to his church, and thenceforward the work
advanced without civil interference. In 1798 a second
church was formed on the Buffalo. By 1806 four more
churches had been constituted, and the six united in form-
ing the Mississippi Baptist Association. Population flowed
in rapidly from this time onward, and the Baptist cause
was greatly strengthened. Among the Baptist immigrants
of the early years of the present century were Thomas
Mercer and David Cooper.
By 1812 the number of churches had increased to 17
and the number of members to 764.
Louisiana Baptists are closely related to those of Mis-
sissippi. The Mississippi Baptist settlements mentioned
above were contiguous to the Louisiana border, and when
a number of Baptists moved into Louisiana they were vis-
ited by the ministers of Mississippi. Bailey E. Chaney
removed with his family from Cole's Creek, Miss., to East
Feliciana Parish, La., in 1798, and soon began to preach.
He was arrested, and released on his promise to cease
preaching in that jurisdiction. He seems to have re-
turned to Mississippi. Ezra Courtney, who had removed
346 THE BAPTISTS. [Pkk. ii.
from South Carolina to Mississippi in 1802 and had settled
near the Louisiana border, besides founding a church in
Mississippi, ministered to a company of South Carolina
Baptists who had settled about nine miles from Baton
Rouge. He was threatened with imprisonment, but
through the favor of the alcalde, whose friendship he
won, he was enabled to continue his work. In neither of
these localities was a church constituted until after 18 13.
The first church formed in Louisiana was on Ba}-ou Chicot
in 1812. It had been gathered by the labors of Joseph
Willis, a mulatto, who had long been one of the leading
Baptist ministers in Mississippi and had labored in close
association with Richard Curtis. In 181 3 the Mount Nebo
and Peniel churches on the Pearl River were constituted
as a result of the labors of some young evangelists from
Mississippi. These churches united with the Mississippi
Association soon after their formation.
In 181 3 there were in Louisiana 3 churches, with a mem-
bership of 130.
CHAPTER VI.
STRUGGLES FOR CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN
NEW ENGLAND. 1
The disabilities under which Baptists labored in Massa-
chusetts and Connecticut during this period have been
sufficiently noticed in earlier chapters. The new charter
of Massachusetts granted by William and Mary in 1691
provided for " liberty of conscience in the worship of God
to all Christians, except Papists, inhabiting or which shall
inhabit or be resident within our said province or terri-
tory." By a strange perversion this seems to have been
taken to mean that the General Court might encourage
and protect the religion of the majority. Until 1728 Bap-
tists were regularly taxed for the support of the churches
of the standing order. An exception was made in the case
of Boston and a few other towns. On their refusal to pay
such taxes they were in many cases imprisoned and their
goods distrained and sacrificed. Many Baptists had con-
scientious scruples against so far acquiescing in an iniqui-
tous arrangement as would be involved in voluntary pay-
ment, and preferred loss and suffering to compliance. The
exemption act of 1728, renewed and modified from time
to time, has already been quoted. As the exemption laws
required the annual presentation before a specified date of
formally prepared lists certified by particular classes of
persons, and as no penalties attached to failure to carry
1 Cf. Backus, "Hist." and "Tracts"; Hovey; Guild, "Smith" and
" Manning"; Barrage; Curtis; and Armitage.
347
348 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
out the provisions of the law on the part of the local
officials, the spirit of the law was no doubt frequently
violated and Baptists deprived of the relief intended.
The Separate Baptists were more strenuous in insisting
upon their rights under the charter than were those of the
old order. One of the chief objects in organizing the War-
ren Association in 1767 was to promote concerted denomi-
national action in the struggle for religious freedom.
The records of the Warren Association for 1 769 state
that " many letters from the churches mentioned grievous
oppressions and persecutions from the standing order;
especially the one from Ashfield, where religious tyranny
had been carried to great lengths." A committee was
appointed, consisting of Backus and others, *to draft a
petition for redress to the Massachusetts and Connecticut
courts, another committee to present the petition, and a
third to collect well-authenticated cases of oppression
under the laws. The petitions were promptly presented,
but proved ineffective. The Committee of Grievances
labored with zeal to ascertain the exact truth in the cases
that came to their attention.
To further their work of collecting facts, and doubtless
to forewarn the authorities that a determined effort was
about to be made for religious equality, an advertisement
was inserted in the Boston " Evening Post " of August 30,
1770. After reminding the Baptists of the persecutions
that they had suffered the document proceeds: "You
are desired to collect your cases of suffering and have
them well attested — such as, the taxes )'ou ha\'e paid to
build meeting-houses, to settle ministers and support them,
with all the time, money, and labor you have lost in wait-
ing on courts, feeing lawyers, etc., and bring or send such
cases to the Baptist Association to be holden at Belling-
ham ; when measures will be resolutely adopted for ob-
Chap. VI.] A THREATENED APPEAL. 349
taining redress from another quarter than that to which
repeated appHcation hath been made unsuccessfully. Nay,
complaints, however just and grievous, have been treated
with indifference, and scarcely, if at all, credited. We
deem this our conduct perfectly justifiable; and hope you
will pay particular regard to this desire, and be exact in
your accounts."
The implied determination to take the case to the throne
was no idle threat. This course had been determined upon
only after long-continued efforts at home had failed to se-
cure redress. From the point of \iew of the Massachusetts
and Connecticut authorities nothing could be more inop-
portune than the presentation to the English government
of such a bill of grievances as was here proposed. The
agitation in favor of colonial resistance to the taxes that
had recently been imposed by the British government had
already begun. Taxation without representation was re-
garded as tyranny. Baptists claimed that the taxes im-
posed upon them for the support of a form of religion in
which they could have no part was in sheer contradiction
to the principle involved in this contention. That the Bap-
tists should threaten to appeal to a government against
which their fellow-colonists were preparing to rebel was
looked upon as little better than treason.
At the meeting of the Association in September follow-
ing a large body of grievances was presented. In view of
these it was unanimously resolved " to send to the British
court for help, if it could not be obtained in America."
While Baptists were as strongly opposed as any to the
British measures that resulted in the Revolution, they had
reluctantly come to the conclusion that as a last resort ap-
peal to Britain would be justifiable. In pursuance of the
object of the above resolution, John Davis, pastor of the
Second Baptist Church, Boston, was appointed by the
350 THE BAPTISTS. LI'kK. ii.
Association to use his best endeavors, with the advice of
the committee, to obtain a full deliverance from ministerial
taxes. Backus was one of the most laborious and useful
members of the committee. Soon after the associational
meeting a petition was drafted by Stillman, Smith, and
Davis, on behalf of the Baptist Committee of Grievances,
and presented to the Massachusetts General Court. The
grievances are set forth in a strong, businesslike way. A
recent resolution of the Massachusetts House of Repre-
sentatives " that no taxation can be equitable where such
restraints are laid upon the taxed as take from him the
liberty of giving his own money freely," is quoted in sup-
port of the Baptist position with reference to ecclesiastical
taxes. The Ashfield case is given as one of the most no-
torious examples of the iniquitous working of the laws.
In I 761 a Baptist church had been established in Hunts-
town, a frontier township in which worship had for years
been maintained by Chileab Smith and his family. The
church was regularly constituted, and Ebenezer Smith, a
son of Chileab, became pastor. Of the nineteen families
in the township only five were opposed to Smith's ordina-
tion as pastor. In the Indian war the Baptists had de-
fended the town with great courage and success. Soon
after the war the families opposed to the Baptists, having
been reinforced by the incoming of others, were constituted
a Congregational church, settled a minister with the pri\i-
leges of the first minister of the town, voted him ;^ioo
settlement and £6i\ a year, arranged for the building of a
meeting-house, and taxed the Baptists, including their
minister, for a proportionate amount of the expense. To
annul the claims of the Baptists to be the first church or-
ganized, and so entitled to exemption from taxes for the
maintenance of pedobaptist worship, a new town called
Ashfield was incorporated in place of Huntstown. To
Chap, vi.] OPPRESS/OX AT ASIIFIELD. 351
quote from the petition : " In consequence of which law,
and by a power granted in the same to the proprietors of
Ashfield aforesaid, three hundred and ninety-eight acres
of our land have been sold to build and remove and re-
pair, when moved, a meeting-house in which we have no
part, and to settle and support a minister whom we cannot
hear. The lands were valued at three hundred and sixty-
three pounds eighteen shillings, . . . and were sold for
nineteen pounds three shillings; so that our loss is three
hundred and forty-four pounds fifteen shillings. . . . Part
of the lands aforesaid belonged to the Rev. Ebenezer
Smith, a regularly ordained Baptist minister, who, together
with his father and others, their brethren, in the last Indian
war, built at their own expense a fort and were a frontier;
and this they did without any help from any quarter ; for
which we beg leave to say that they deserve, at least, the
common privileges of the subjects of the crown of England.
Part of said lands had been laid out for a burying-place,
and they have taken from us our dead. They have also
sold a dwelling-house and orchard, and pulled up our
apple-trees, and thrown down our fences, and made our
fields waste places." Complaint is also made of the law
" by which no Baptist can avail himself even of that law
[the exemption law] in new-settled towns; and we are
thereby virtually prevented from settling in such towns."
In conclusion the petitioners ask the court to repeal the law
erecting Ashfield into a town, to restore the lands taken
from Baptists, to give them damages for the injuries they
have been made to suffer, and to enable Baptists " in
different parts of the Province to recover damages for the
losses they have been made to sustain on religious ac-
count." They ask for "perpetual exemption to all Bap-
tists and their congregations from all ministerial rates
whatsoever."
352 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
In response to this petition a new exemption law was
enacted, in which the offensive term " Anabaptist " gave
place to " antipedobaptist." Certificates of being "con-
scientiously of the antipedobaptist persuasion " were to be
" signed by three or more principal members and the minis-
ter, if any there be." The last clause was intended to
meet cases of pastorless churches, whose certificates had
been held to be invalid. The term " conscientiously " was
strongly objected to, as it gave to the local authorities the
right to sit in judgment on the consciences of professing
Baptist adherents and to refuse to accept the certificates
of any not actually members of Baptist churches.
The committee met to consider the revised law and
unanimously voted it unsatisfactory. Some time before the
promulgation of the new act the Baptist advertisement re-
ferred to above was violently attacked in the newspapers,
and Davis felt called upon to publish a full exposure of the
wrongs that had been committed against Baptists. He
was shamelessly maligned by the press, and every effort
was made to make him odious to the public. Davis was
a graduate of the Philadelphia College and is highly spoken
of by his contemporaries. He was a newcomer in New
England and was probably driven from his post by the
violence of the obloquy to which he was exposed. He
died shortly after leaving Boston.
At the session of the Association in 1772 Backus was
appointed agent in place of Davis. In a circular to the
churches, dated May 5, 1773, he asked the churches to
consider the question whether it would not be better for
all the churches to refuse to comply with the law requiring
certificates, those suffering special hardship for refusal to
be assisted by such as enjoyed immunity. His idea was
that " the root of all these difficulties, and that which has
done amazing mischief in our land, is ci\il rulers assuming
[Chap. vi. AA' APPEAL FOR LIBERTY. 353
a power to make any laws to govern ecclesiastical afifairs,
or to use any force to support ministers." He was of the
opinion that if all Baptists should refuse compliance with
the law, its enforcement would soon become so odious
that it would be abandoned, and that, economically con-
sidered, it would soon prove to be the least expensive
course. The matter received the prayerful consideration
of the Association at its next meeting. When it came to
a vote, "thirty-four elders and brethren" were "against
giving any more certificates, six for it, and three at a loss
how to act." It was also voted that an appeal to the
public, a draft of which Backus read to the Association,
should be completed, examined by the committee, and
published. In publishing this appeal the committee were
encouraged by " several members of both houses of our
great General Court." The hopefulness of the committee
at this time is thus expressed in a letter written by Backus
to Dr. Stennett, of London, who, along with Dr. Llewelyn
and Mr. Wallin, w^as confidential counselor and agent of
the New England Baptists. After stating the facts given
above, he proceeds : " The state of people's minds of vari-
ous ranks through New England is such that I cannot but
hope to obtain our freedom without a necessity of appeal-
ing to his Majesty. The use of force in religion is become
odious to great numbers besides our own denomination,
and that is increasing very fast " (Hovey," Life and Times
of I. Backus," pp. 190 scq.).
The " Appeal to the Public for Religious Liberty, against
the Oppressions of the Present Day," published toward the
close of 1773, sets forth in a masterly manner the Baptist
position respecting the entire separation of church and
state and absolute liberty of conscience, and pleads for the
abolition of the grievances that are fully and clearly stated.
The reasons of the Baptists for refusal to conform to the
354 'J^^I^ BAPTISTS. [Pkk. II.
law with reference to certificates are thus given (pp. 43
scq.): " I. Because the very nature of such a practice im-
plies an acknowledgment that the civil power has the right
to set one religious sect up above another, else why need
we give certificates to them any more than they to us?
It is a tacit allowance that they have a right to make laws
about such things, which we believe in our consciences
they have not. For, 2. By the foregoing address to our
legislature, and their committee's report thereon, it is evi-
dent that they claim a right to tax us from r/^vV obligation,
as being the representatives of the people. But how came
a civil community by any ecclesiastical power? how came
the kingdoms of this world to have a right to govern in
Christ's kingdom, which is not of this world? 3. That
constitution not only emboldens people to Judge the liberty
of other men's consciences, and has carried them so far as
to tell our general assembly that they conceived it to be a
duty they owed to God and their country, not to be dis-
pensed with, to lay before them the springs of their neigh-
bors' actions ; but it also requires something of the same
nature from us. Their laws require us annually to certify
to them what our belief is concerning the conscience of
every person that assembles with us, as the condition of
their being exempted from taxes to other worship. And
only because our brethren in Bellingham left that clause
about the conscience out of their certificates last year, a
number of the society who live at Mendon were lately
taxed, and suffered the spoiling of their goods, to uphold
pedobaptist worship. 4. The scheme we oppose evidently
tends to destroy the purity and life of religion; for the in-
s}Mred apostle assures us that the church is espoused as a
chaste virgin to Christ and is obliged to be subject to Jiini
iu everything, as a true wife is to her husband. Now the
most chaste domestic obedience does not at all interfere
Chai'. VI.] MASSACHUSETTS PRAISES TOLERATION. 355
with any lawftil subjection to civil authority ; but for a
woman to admit the highest ruler in a nation into her
husband's place, would be adultery or ivJiorcdoin, and how
often are men's inventions about worship so called in the
sacred oracles? ... 5. The custom which they want us
to countenance is very hurtful to civil society ; for by the
law of Christ every man is not only allowed, but also re-
quired, to judge for himself concerning the circumstantials,
as well as the essentials, of religion, and to act according
to the fjill persuasion of his ozvii mind; and he contracts
guilt to his soul if he does the contrary. . . . What temp-
tation then does it lay for men to contract such guilt, when
temporal advantages are annexed to one persuasion, and
disadvantages laid upon another? i.e., in plain terms, how
does it tend to hypocrisy and lying? than which, what can
be worse to human society? Not only so, but coercive
measures about religion also tend to provoke to emulation,
wrath, and contention, and who can describe all the mis-
chiefs of this nature that such measures have produced in
our land?" The happy effects of freedom are illustrated
by the case of Boston, and a letter of Massachusetts Con-
gregational ministers to Governor Jenckes, of Rhode Island,
a Baptist, when Congregationalists were seeking (i 72 1) " to
get footing in the town of Providence," is quoted. The
letter commends the " hearty union and good affection of
all pious Protestants," and expresses the hope and prayer
" that ancient matters (that had acrimony unhappily in
them) may be buried in oblivion." The reply of the
Providence authorities is also quoted, in which recent per-
secutions of Baptists in Massachusetts are referred to and
rebuked, and in which the happiness of the Rhode Island
government is declared to consist " in their not allowing
societies any superiority one over another; but each so-
ciety support their own ministry of their own free will, and
356 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
not by constraint or force upon any man's person or estate.
But the contrary that takes any man's estate by force to
mahitain their own or any other ministry, it serves for
nothing but to provoke to wrath, envy, and strife, and t]iis
Xi'isdom comet Ji not from above, but is earthly, sensual, and
devilish. . . . We say, far be it from us to revenge our-
selves ; or to deal to you as you have dealt to us, but
rather say, Father, forgive tJiem; they knoiv not what they
do.''
In January, 1774, Backus addressed a letter to Samuel
Adams, a foremost opponent of the British policy of taxa-
tion without representation, in which he sought to show
that the policy of Massachusetts in relation to the Baptists
is open to precisely the same objections, and asked for the
use of his influence in favor of the repeal of all legislation
that discriminated against Baptists. A number of fresh
cases of oppression under the law had recently come to
the notice of the committee. On January 26, 1774,
Backus, as agent for the Baptist churches, addressed a
Memorial and Petition to the Massachusetts government,
asking for the liberation of Baptists who were lying in
prison for conscience' sake, the reparation of their goods,
and legislation to obviate the recurrence of such perse-
cutions.
A law more favorable to the Baptists soon afterward
passed both houses of the legislature, but in consequence
of the sudden prorogation of the court it failed to receive
the signature of the governor.
In September, 1774, delegates from twelve provinces
assembled in Congress at Philadelphia with a view to
agreeing on concerted resistance to Britain. Backus was
urged by Manning, Gano, Van Home, and Smith to pro-
ceed to Philadelphia and " to see if something might not
be done to obtain and secure our religious liberties." On
Chap. VI.] CONFERENCE IN n/ILADELP/ILl. 357
September 14th he was appointed by the Warren Asso-
ciation to undertake this work. A number of brethren
accompanied him, and he had the cooperation of the Phil-
adelphia Association, which met October 12th and appointed
a Committee of Grievances to correspond with that of the
Warren Association. A meeting of Baptist representatives
with leading New England statesmen and others was held
on October 14th. The principal members of Congress pres-
ent were Thomas Cushing, Samuel Adams, John Adams,
and R. T. Paine, of Massachusetts ; James Kinzie, of New
Jersey ; Stephen Hopkins and Samuel Ward, of Rhode
Island ; and Joseph Galloway and Thomas Miflin, of Pennsyl-
vania. The mayor of Philadelphia and several prominent
Quaker gentlemen were active participants in the confer-
ence. The prominent Baptists present, besides Backus,
were Manning, Gano, Samuel Jones, William Rogers, and
Morgan Edwards. President Manning opened the confer-
ence and read a memorial that had been drawn up for the
occasion. The memorial begins : " It has been said by a
celebrated writer in politics that but two things were worth
contending for, — Religion and Liberty. For the latter we
are at present nobly exerting ourselves through all this
extensive continent; and surely no one whose bosom feels
the patriot glow in behalf of civil liberty can remain tor-
pid to the more ennobling flame of Religious Freedom.
The free exercise of private judgment, and the unalienable
rights of conscience, are of too high a rank and dignity to
be subjected to the decrees of councils, or the imperfect
laws of fallible legislators. The merciful Father of man-
kind is the alone Lord of conscience." The grievances of
Baptists in Massachusetts and the inadequacy of the ex-
emption laws to afford the relief needed are set forth as in
the documents above referred to. It is claimed that the
charter is infringed by the refusal to Baptists of full liberty
358 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
of conscience. The memorial concludes : " Consistently
with the principles of Christianity, and according to the
dictates of Protestantism, we claim and expect the liberty
of worshiping God according to our consciences, not being
obliged to support a ministry we cannot attend, whilst we
demean ourselves as faithful subjects. These we have an
undoubted right to, as men, as Christians, and by charter
as inhabitants of Massachusetts Bay."
The Massachusetts congressmen sought to make light
of the restrictions on liberty of conscience in their province.
They admitted that an establishment of religion existed,
but claimed that the exemption law removed any just
ground of complaint. Samuel Adams called attention to
the fact that it was not the Regular Baptists but the en-
thusiasts of the New Light order that were making com-
plaint. Backus gave the facts about Ashfield, and stated
that he could not conscientiously give in the certificates
required by law. After a four hours' session the confer-
ence closed, with a promise on the part of the Massachu-
setts congressmen to do what they could for the relief of
the Baptists; but John Adams is said to have remarked
that the Baptists might as well expect a ch?nge in the
solar system as to expect that the Massachusetts author-
ities would give up their establishment.
The bold and uncompromising spirit in which the Bap-
tists pressed their claims for religious liberty at Phila-
delphia was exceedingly irritating to the Massachusetts
statesmen. They are said to have spread the report that
Backus had gone to Philadelphia to prevent the colonies
from uniting in resistance to Britain, and to have accused
Baptists of bringing imaginary grievances to the front at
a highly critical time. To correct the imprcs.sion that the
Baptists of New England were indifferent to the cause of
civil liberty and that they were contending about trifles,
Chap. VI.] MANNING'S MEMORIAL. 359
Backus addressed a letter to the Congress of Massachu-
setts, November 22, 1774. After reciting- the grievances
he proceeds: " Must we be blamed for not lying still, and
thus let our countrymen trample upon our rights, and
deny us that very liberty that they are ready to take up
arms to defend for themselves ? You profess to exempt
us from taxes to your worship, and yet tax us every year.
Great complaints have been made about a tax which the
British Parliament laid upon paper; but you require a
paper tax of us annually. That which has made the
greatest noise is a tax of three pence a pound upon tea;
but your law of last June laid a tax of the same sum every
year upon the Baptists in each parish, as they would ex-
pect to defend themselves against a greater one. . . . All
America are alarmed at the tea tax ; though, if they please,
they can avoid it by not buying the tea ; but we have no
such liberty. We must either pay the little tax, or else
your people appear, even in this time of extremity, deter-
mined to lay the great one upon us. But these lines are
to let you know that we are determined not to pay either
of them ; not only upon your principle of not being taxed
where we are not represented, but also because we dare
not render that homage to any earthly power which I and
many of my brethren are fully convinced belongs only to
God. We cannot give in the certificates you require,
without implicitl}^ allowing to men that authority which
we belie\-e in our consciences belongs only to God. . . .
If any ask what we would have, we answer: Only allow
us freely to enjoy the religious liberty that they do in
Boston, and we ask no more."
Some members of the Congress were for ignoring this
letter, but Adams was apprehensive lest such a course
should cause a division among the provinces. Lack of
jurisdiction in such matters was claimed, and Baptists were
360 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. 11.
politely advised to lay their grievances before the next
General Assembly. In view of this failure to secure the
relief contended for, the Philadelphia committee advised,
as " our only resource," that application be made " on the
other side of the Atlantic." " This channel," they wrote,
" we ought ever to keep open, and not to preclude our-
selves by our own conduct from being heard there with
that attention and favor that our case will require. Our
conduct ought to be such as to prevent us, on the one
hand, from being deemed enemies to our country; and to
secure to us, on the other, a favorable reception at the
throne, if it should be necessary to apply there at a future
day."
Pennsylvania and New Jersey were at this time strongly
averse to revolution, and the tone of the letter from which
quotation has been made was in part a result of this
sentiment.
The indefatigable Backus prepared another memorial for
the General Court, which met in September, 1775. It re-
ceived the very careful consideration of the court. Major
Hawley, a plain-spoken member, told the court that the
Baptists had been ill treated, that the established religion
was not worth a groat, and he wished it might fall to the
ground. After some debate the memorial was referred to
a committee of seven, three of whom were Baptists. Dr.
Asaph Fletcher, one of the Baptist members, was author-
ized by the court to bring in a bill for the redress of Bap-
tist grievances. It was proposed that the Baptists be asked
to withdraw their memorial, but Major Hawley hoped it
would lie on the files " till it had eaten out the present es-
tablishment." It is evident that progress was being made.
The Warren Association resolved at its meeting in 1775
that " our agent and committee be desired to draw up a
letter to all the Baptist societies on this continent, stating
CiiAi'. VI.] A A'EIV COXSTITi'TIOX. 361
the true nature and importance of rcliy;ious liberty, and
signifying that we think that a general meeting of dele-
gates from our societies in every colony is expedient, as
soon as may be, to consult upon the best means and
methods of obtaining deliverance from various encroach-
ments which have been made upon that liberty, and to
promote the general welfare of our churches, and of all
God's people throughout the land." Backus had ap-
pealed, not wholly in vain, to the Philadelphia, Charles-
ton, and other Associations in 1774 for financial aid for
the oppressed in New England. This call for a meeting
of the Baptists of the continent was the first effort to bring
the representatives of the entire body together. The out-
break of hostilities between the colonies and the mother-
country would have made the meeting impracticable, even
if no other obstacles had presented themselves. Such a
meeting could never be secured till th'e denomination had
been aroused on behalf of foreign missions.
A new constitution was framed by the Massachusetts
General Court in 1777, to be acted upon by the same body
a year later. An article restoring some of the old eccle-
siastical laws alarmed the I^aptists, who circulated about a
hundred copies of a petition against the perpetuation of
these laws and insisting that it be " a fundamental principle
of our government that ministers shall be supported only
by Christ's authority, and not at all by assessment and
secular force, — which impartial liberty has long been
claimed and enjoyed by the city of Boston." Many be-
sides Baptists signed this petition. As the proposed con-
stitution was rejected the petition was not presented.
The pen of Backus was kept busy in publishing com-
plaints and in warding off attacks. Even in the midst
of the war Baptists continued to suffer oppression. Yet
Stillman, of Boston, was appointed to preach the election
362 777^ BAPTISTS. [Per. n.
sermon in 1778, and he utilized the occasion for setting
forth the Baptist view of the relations of church and state.
In 1779 a Constitutional Convention was held at Cam-
bridge. The obnoxious laws were again incorporated.
Again the Baptists circulated a remonstrance, which was
largely signed. Nevertheless the General Court of i 780
adopted a constitution that fell considerably short of the
Baptists' demand. It empowered the legislature to make
" suitable provision " for the support of ministers, yet it
declared that " no subordination of one sect or denomina-
tion to another shall ever be established by law." It was
as yet unsettled whether the certificate law could still be
enforced. A test case was soon brought before the courts,
and decision was at last given in favor of the Baptists (1783).
But trouble was not yet at an end. Members of a church
organized in Cambridge in 1781 were taxed to the support
of the Congregational minister, and when appeal was made
to the courts decision was made against them. The only re-
course was " to sue the money out of the hands of those
who took it," and to do this they must gi\e in certificates.
Contrary to the advice of Backus, this course was pursued,
and " their minister sued the money out of the hands of
their oppressors, from time to time, until they left off col-
lecting such money." Backus informs us that "the like
was done in various parts of the country."
In I 786 a law was passed for amalgamating ciA'il and
ecclesiastical taxes. Out of the common rate a majority
of the qualified voters might vote " such sums of money
as they shall judge necessary, for the settlement, mainte-
nance, and support of the ministry, schools," etc. This
law, while not nominally discriminating in favor of Con-
gregational ministers, was evidently intended to subserve
their interests. It withdrew from Baptists even the poor
protection they had under the old exemption law. Cases
Chai'. VI.] LIBERTY IX MASSACHUSETTS, iSjj. 363
of oppression gradually became less frequent, as public
sentiment grew against such tyranny. The condition of
things in 1796 is thus described by Backus: " Though the
teachers and rulers of the uppermost party in Massachu-
setts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont are as
earnest as ever Pharaoh was, to hold the church of Christ
under the taxing power of the world, to support religious
ministers, yet that power is daily consuming by the Spirit
of God's mouth, and the brightness of his coming. Very
few of them now dare to make distress upon any who re-
fuse to pay ministers' taxes ; and the credit of Baptist
churches and ministers is daily rising, in all parts of our
country. And the gospel, enforced upon the souls of men
by the Spirit of God, has been the evident cause of it ; for
before the work of his Spirit in the county of Hampshire,
under the ministry of Edwards and others, in and after
1734, there were but six Baptist churches in all the gov-
ernments of Massachusetts and Connecticut, and none in
New Hampshire; Vermont was not then begun. Yet in
these four States there are now two hundred and eighty-
five Baptist churches, and they are increasing fast, against
all the powers of the world. . . . Not less than twenty-
eight such churches have been formed in the counties of
Cumberland, Lincoln, and Hancock, in the District of
Maine; besides a number more which are not in fellowship
with those churches."
Yet religious liberty was not established in Massachu-
setts by the complete separation of church and state until
1833, a strenuous effort to secure this end having failed as
late as 1820.
Little has been said about the struggle in Connecticut.
An exemption law in favor of Baptists and Quakers,
with the requirement of certificates, had been enacted
there in 1729. During and after the Great Awakening,
364 '^^^l''- P'APTISTS. [Per. ii.
when large numbers of Separate churches were benig
formed and many of these were becoming Baptist, restric-
tions were put upon the use of the privileges of exemption.
It is probable that Baptists in Connecticut suffered greater
hardship than those in Massachusetts. The revised statutes
of I 784 were more favorable to Baptists than the Massa-
chusetts arrangement of i 780. The removal of all obstruc-
tions to religious freedom in Connecticut occurred in 1820.
CHAPTER VII.
THE STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE IN
VIRGINIA.^
In the preceding sketch of the remarkable growth of the
Baptist cause in Virginia from about i 755 to the beginning
of the Revokition Httle was said of the persecutions to
which Baptists were subjected. As a result of the British
Act of Toleration of 1689, the Virginia authorities had
tardily and reluctantly abandoned the policy of excluding
and exterminating dissent. Under the Act of Toleration
dissenting ministers were allowed to carry on their work
provided they would take out licenses for particular places.
The General and the Regular Baptists, by conforming to
this regulation, suffered little persecution. The Separates
were too full of enthusiasm to limit their activities to par-
ticular places. They traveled widely, preaching the gos-
pel wherever they could find hearers. Their meetings
were sometimes disorderly from excess of enthusiasm, and
furnished at least a pretext for civil interference. Their
violent denunciations of the w^orthless and corrupt clergy
aroused the hostility of this privileged class. Some of the
most prominent of the Separate Baptist ministers were
repeatedly imprisoned and otherwise maltreated. Their
meetings were often broken up by mobs and the leaders
threatened — sometimes assaulted. Thrilling stories could
1 Cf. Semple ; Taylor; Curry; Curtis; Howell; Armitage; Hening,
"Statutes at Large"; Hawks, " Contr. to Eccl. Hist."; Foote, " Sk. of
Va. " ; Works of Jefferson and Madison.
365
366 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
be told of the heroism and enthusiastic devotion of these
men, of the way in which their persecutors were changed
into zealous adherents and fellow-laborers, of their preach-
ing from prison-windows to crowds of earnest listeners, and
of their uncompromising refusal to comply with require-
ments which they thought to be against the will of God.
The chief cause of the rapid growth of dissent in Vir-
ginia was undoubtedly popular disgust with the irreligious,
tax- fed, and exacting clergy. Owing their appointments
to British influence, they were nearly all extreme opponents
of colonial rights. Most of them were connected with the
English aristocracy, and they found their associates chiefly
among the sporting aristocracy of Virginia, in whose
amusements and \ices they freely joined. No doubt
there were many exceptions, but the general correctness
of the above statements is fully attested by Episcopal
writers of undoubted integrity. The aversion of the
people to the clergy had been intensified shortly before
the war by the following circumstance : The clerical
stipends had been fixed by law in pounds of tobacco.
Owing to deficient crops in 1755 and 1758 the price of
tobacco had risen, and as many debts had been contracted
in terms of tobacco serious hardship was involved. As a
measure of relief, the Virginia Assembly made all debts
payable at the rate of twopence to the pound of tobacco.
The clergy resisted this commutation, induced the British
government to declare the act invalid, and attempted to
compel their parishioners to pay the difference between
twopence a pound and the market price of tobacco.
Patrick Henry, the noted Presbyterian lawyer and states-
man, resisted the enforcement of the decision of the king
in council, and in a test case before a Virginia court the
jury fixed the damages at one penny. Nothing could
have been more unpopular tlian this effort of the clergy.
Chap. VH.] FKAYEK FOK PEKSECUTOKS. 367
for their own profit and at the expense of the people, to
thwart the will of the people by invoking British interfer-
ence. In this procedure they signed the death-warrant of
their special privileges. The action of the king in council
in declaring the law passed by the Assembly void was one
of the most irritating of all the measures that led to the
Revolution.
From this time onu-ard Baptists and Presbyterians co-
operated heartily for the overthrow of the established
religion.
The years immediately preceding the Revolution were
marked by wonderful spiritual prosperity and bitter per-
secution. At a meeting of the General Association in
1774 it was "agreed to set apart the second and third
Saturdays in June, as public fast-days, in behalf of our
poor blind persecutors, and for the releasement of our
brethren." At the meeting of the Association in 1775,
stimulated, no doubt, by the example of their brethren in
New England and by the counsel of those of the Philadel-
phia Association, it was resolved to circulate petitions, to
be presented to the General Assembly, for the abolition of
the church establishment and the protection of all religious
societies in the peaceable enjoyment of their own religious
principles and modes of worship. Jeremiah Walker, John
Williams, and George Roberts were appointed to wait on
the legislature with these petitions. It was further decided
to petition the Assembly for the privilege of preaching in
the army. The latter petition was readily granted.
At the next meeting of the General Association, in i JjG,
a committee was appointed to " inquire whether any griev-
ances existed in the civil laws, that were oppressive to the
Baptists." The Committee reported that the marriage law
was " partial and oppressive." Marriages could be legally
effected only by the offices of the Episcopal clergy. It
368 THE BAPTISTS. [Pek. ii.
was agreed to memorialize the next General Assembly,
"■ praying for a law affording equal privileges to all ordained
ministers of every denomination."
At the October meeting of the General Assembly, in
response to the petitions of Baptists and others, laws were
passed suspending the payment of the stipends of the
clergy and " exempting the different societies of dissenters
from contributing to the support and maintenance of the
church, as by law established, and its ministers." Thomas
Jefferson, who from the beginning of the struggle was the
staunch advocate of liberty of conscience, was the leading
spirit in the Assembly and had much to do with this leg-
islation. The suspension of the payment of clerical salaries
was repeated in 1777, and in 1779 all legislation concern-
ing the payment of such salaries was repealed. From i 776
onward the question of a general assessment for the sup-
port of ministers of religion was much agitated. The pro-
posal was that all alike be assessed, but that each individ-
ual have the right to designate the church or minister to
whom his rate should be paid.
In 1778 the General Association appointed a committee
of seven to report on grievances. They reported that
should a general assessment take place it would be injuri-
ous to the dissenters in general ; and that the assumption of
the clergy of the former established church that they have
exclusive right to officiate in marriages has subjected dis-
senters to great inconveniences. They recommended that
two be appointed to lay these grievances before the next
General Assembly. Jeremiah Walker and Elijah Craig
were appointed for this purpose.
In 1779 Walker was able to make a highly gratifying
report, and a resolution was passed approving of the bill
establishing religious freedom. In \iew of the prospect
of an early amendment of the marriage law many Baptist
CiiAi'. VII.] MARRIAGE LAW. 369
ministers took the responsibility of celebrating marriages,
acting on the advice of Patrick Henry, who considered this
the most efficacious means of securing the legislation de-
sired. At the request of the Association these marriages
were sanctioned by a special act of the Assembly.
By 1780 the less aggressive Regular Baptists had been
awakened to the need of making their influence felt in
favor of reform, and they appointed a committee to act in
conjunction with a committee of the General Association.
Reference has already been made to the division of the
General Association into District Associations and the
constitution of the General Committee in 1783. This
committee, composed of four delegates from each District
Association, had for its chief aim the consideration of " all
the political grievances of the whole Baptist Society in
Virginia, and all references from the District Associations
which concern the Baptist Society at large." Its plan of
action provicied, further, that " no petition, memorial, or
remonstrance shall be presented to the General Assembly
from any Association in connection with the General
Committee ; all things of that kind shall originate with
the General Committee." The marriage law, the vestry
law, and the proposal for general assessment were the
matters that first received the attention of the Committee.
At its first meeting, in 1784, it was decided to ask the
General Assembly to repeal the laws referred to. Reuben
Ford, who had been appointed to w^ait on the Assembly,
reported at the meeting in 1785 that he had fulfilled his
commission and that " certain amendments had been made
to the marriage law which he thought satisfactory." The
law in force for some time restricted the licenses of dis-
senting ministers to four of each denomination in each
county, anci allowed these four to exercise these licenses
only in the county in which they resided. These restric-
370 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
tions were removed at this time. He reported that " a bill
for a general assessment was introduced and had almost
passed into a law," but that a motion had prevailed " that
it should be referred to the next General Assembly in
order to give the people an opportunity to consider it."
One of the hardest struggles the Baptists ever had for
religious liberty was that through which they defeated
this bill. The Presbyterians, who in most matters stood
shoulder to shoulder with the Baptists, were far from
being united and zealous in opposition to this measure so
radically opposed to Baptist principles. The resolution of
the General Committee on this matter is so admirable a
presentation of the Baptist position that it must be quoted
in full : " Resolved, That it be recommended to those
counties which have not yet prepared petitions to be pre-
sented to the General Assembly against the engrossed bill
for a general assessment for the support of the teachers of
the Christian religion, to proceed thereon as soon as pos-
sible ; that it is believed to be repugnant to the spirit of
the gospel for the Legislature thus to proceed in matters
of religion ; that no human laws ought to be established
for this purpose, but that every person ought to be left
entirely free in respect to matters of religion ; that the
holy Author of our religion needs no such compulsive
measures for the promotion of his cause ; that the gospel
wants not the feeble arm of man for its support ; that it
has made, and will again, through divine power, make, its
way against all opposition; and that should the Legislature
assume the right of taxing the people for the support of the
gospel, it will be destructive to religious liberty."
Reuben Ford was appointed to wait on the General As-
sembly with remonstrance and petition. \\\ their struggle
against general assessment Baptists had the influential sup-
port of such statesmen as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison,
Chap, vii.] REPEAL OF INCOKrOKArLXG ACT. 371
and George Mason, who were among the foremost advo-
cates of Hberty of conscience. General assessment was
defeated in the Assembly in i 786, and an act was passed,
drawn up by Jefferson, lucidly expounding the doctrine of
religious liberty.
The next politico- religious matter that engaged the
attention of the General Committee was the law for the
incorporation of the Episcopal society. It was resolved
at the meeting in i 786 " that petitions ought to be drawn
and circulated in the different counties and presented to
the next General Assembly, praying for a repeal of the
incorporating act, and that the public property which is
by that act vested in the Protestant Episcopal Church be
sold and the money applied to public use, and that Reuben
Ford and John Leland attend the next Assembly as agents
in behalf of the General Committee.'' Representatives of
the Regular Baptist Association (the Ketokton) were, at
this meeting, received as full members of the Committee.
John Leland from this time onward was one of the leaders
of the denomination in the struggle for liberty of conscience
and in evangelization. Born in Massachusetts in 1754, he
removed to Virginia in 1775, where he labored for about
fifteen years and baptized seven hundred believers. His
later years were spent in New England. He was one of
the very ablest men of his time, and, though somewhat
eccentric and not always working harmoniously with his
brethren, his influence was wholesome and profound. His
" Virginia Chronicle " is one of the chief sources of infor-
mation on the period that it covers.
Ford and Leland waited upon the General Assembly
and secured the repeal of the incorporation act complained
of by the General Committee. But the glebe-lands that
had been set apart for the benefit of the Episcopal clergy
were still left in their hands. A majority of the General
372 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. ii.
Committee decided (1787) that these lands ought to be
viewed as pubHc property. But as some were of a con-
trary mind no action was taken at this meeting. The
union of Regulars and Separates was consummated at this
time and the denomination greatly strengthened for ag-
gressive work thereby.
In I 788 the General Committee extended its \'iew so as
to embrace national questions. The United States Con-
stitution had been drafted, and its ratification by the various
States was in progress. The question was raised in the
committee, whether the new Federal Constitution made
sufficient provision for the secure enjoyment of religious
liberty. It was the unanimous opinion of the Committee
that it did not. A noble letter was drafted by John Le-
land, signed by the officers of the Committee, and sent to
President Washington. After a full historical statement
with reference to the recent struggles for civil liberty, and
complimentary references to Washington's part therein, it
proceeds: "The want of efficiency in the confederation,
the redundancy of laws, and their partial administration in
the States, called aloud for a new arrangement of our sys-
tems. The wisdom of the States for that purpose was
collected in a grand convention, over which you, sir, had
the honor to preside. A national government in all its
parts was recommended as the only preservatix'c of the
Union, which plan of government is now in actual opera-
tion. When the Constitution first made its appearance in
Virginia, we, as a society, feared that the liberty of con-
science, dearer to us than property or life, was not suffi-
ciently secured. Perhaps our jealousies were heightened
by the usage we received in Virginia, under the regal
government, when mobs, fines, bonds, and prisons were
our frequent repast. Convinced, on the one hand, that
without an effective national government the States would
Chap. VII.] WASHINGTON AND THE BAPTISTS. 373
fall into disunion and all the subsequent evils; and, on the
other hand, fearing that we should be accessory to some
religious oppression, should any one society in the Union
predominate over the rest ; yet, amidst all these inquietudes
of mind, our consolation arose from this consideration — the
plan must be good, for it has the signature of a tried, trusty
friend, and if religious liberty is rather insecure in the Con-
stitution, ' the administration will certainly prevent all op-
pression, for a WASHINGTON will preside.' . . . Should
the horrid evils that have been so pestiferous in Asia and
Europe, faction, ambition, war, perfidy, fraud, and perse-
cution for conscience' sake, ever approach the borders of
our happy nation, may the name and administration of our
beloved President, like the radiant source of day, scatter
all these dark clouds from the American hemisphere."
The essential part of the President's reply may also be
quoted : " If I could have entertained the slightest appre-
hension that the Constitution framed by the Convention
where I had the honor to preside might possibly endanger
the religious rights of any ecclesiastical society, certainly
I would never have placed my signature to it; and if I
could now conceive that the general government might
ever be so administered as to render the liberty of con-
science insecure, I beg you will be persuaded that no one
would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual
barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny and every
species of religious persecution. For, you doubtless re-
member, I have often expressed my sentiments that any
man, conducting himself as a good citizen and being ac-
countable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought
to be protected in worshiping the Deity according to the
dictates of his own conscience. While I recollect with
satisfaction that the religious society of which you are
members have been, throughout America, uniformly and
374 ^-^^ BAPTISTS. [I'lR. II,
almost unanimously the firm friends to civil liberty, and
the persevering promoters of our glorious Revolution, I
cannot hesitate to believe that they will be the faithful
supporters of a free yet efficient general government.
Under this pleasing expectation, I rejoice to assure them
that they may rely upon my best wishes and endeavors
to advance their prosperity."
That these were no empty assurances the sequel wuU
show. A short time afterward James Madison, with the
approval of the President, submitted certain amendments.
According to Article VI. of the original Constitution, Con-
gress was prohibited from imposing religious tests in con-
nection with " any office or public trust under the United
States." This left Congress at liberty to impose religious
tests for other purposes than those specified. In place of
this the following was adopted as Article I. : " Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the
freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble and to petition the govern-
ment for the redress of grievances." The importance of
this provision, which resulted from what might have
seemed the extreme sensitiveness of the Virginia Baptist
General Committee, is now almost universally recognized.
This amendment was strenuously opposed by a number of
representatives in Congress, especially by those of Massa-
chusetts and Connecticut ; but it was adopted by a consid-
erable majority September 23, 1789. It was ratified by
all the States except Massachusetts and Connecticut before
the close of i 791.
The only dragons that still remained in the path of the
General Committee were the glebe-lands still held by the
Episcopal clergy, and the institution of slavery. Petition
after petition was made for the confiscation of these lands.
Chap, vii.] JEFFERSON AND THE BAPTISTS. 375
Success crowned their efforts in i 799. They uttered the
strong protest against slavery ah'eady noticed, but this
proved ineffective. Having accompHshed woriv of the
noblest and most momentous kind, the Committee dis-
banded in 1 799, giving place to the General Meeting of
Correspondence, which held its first session in 1800.
Little importance is to be attached to the tradition that
Jefferson derived his idea of civil government afterward
incorporated in the United States Constitution from ob-
servation of the polity of a Baptist church. There were
Baptist churches near his home, and there is no doubt but
that he was in friendly intercourse with the wise and elo-
quent John Leland. As a student of political science
Jefferson must have been perfectly familiar with the real
and ideal republics of the past, and he did not need to go
to a Baptist church for ideas of democratic government.
It is possible, however, that certain features of govern-
ment may have been impressed upon his mind as suitable
for his own land and time through his intercourse with
Baptists.
PERIOD III.
FROM THE ORGANIZATION OF THE TRIENNIAL
CONVENTION TO THE PRESENT TIME (i 8 14-1894).
377
CHAPTER I.
RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT.
The final period of American Baptist history begins
with the conversion of Judson and Rice to Baptist views
and the inauguration of the modern missionary movement.
As the effects of tliese con\-ersions on the denomination
did not assume tangible form until 1814, the beginning of
the period may be dated in that )'ear.
By 18 1 2, through processes that have been indicated in
the preceding chapters, the denomination had increased
to a membership of 172,972, grouped in 2164 cliurches
and shepherded by 1 605 ministers. Baptists were well
distributed throughout the seventeen settled States and
had begun to take root in a number of the more sparsely
settled Territories. Virginia led the Baptist hosts with
35,665 ; Kentucky, a newly occupied but rapidly settled
State, followed with 22,694; New York came third with
18,499 ! Georgia occupied the fourth position with 14,761 ;
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee follow with
12,567, 11,821, and 11,325, respectively; the New Eng-
land States altogether had 32,272 Baptists and the Middle
States 26,155.
It will be borne in mind that the numerical strength had
been more than doubled in the preceding ten years, as ac-
cording to careful estimates it did not much exceed eighty
thousand at the beginning of the century. The revivals
of the first decade of the century had prepared the way
379
38o THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
for the great onward movement to be described in the
chapters that follow.
The mass of the Baptists were indifferent or hostile to
ministerial education, and circumstances were such that a
high standard of literary and theological preparation for
the ministry would in any case have been unattainable.
The Baptists of the Philadelphia Association had long-
since taken the lead in all that pertained to the elevation
of the character and dignity of the denomination, and
their influence had been profoundly felt in New England
and the South. The Charleston and Warren Associations
were formed by men who had been trained in the Phila-
delphia, and perpetuated and extended the beneficent in-
fluences of the older body. Brown University was, as has
been seen, the direct product of the planning of the Phila-
delphia Association, and its success was due to the efi"orts
of men who had their spiritual birth and training in this
wise and conservative, yet progressive, organization. Un-
der the influence of the New Light movement the spread
of the denomination was too rapid to allow of any sort of
educational standard for the ministry. Those who were
converted under the highly emotional preaching of the
Separate Baptist evangelists shared so fully in the enthu-
siasm of these preachers tliat they could wait for no prep-
aration. The success of such men in soul-winning, as
compared with the failure of educated but unspiritual
ministers, had a tendency to produce in themselves and in
those among whom they labored the conviction that learn-
ing was not only unnecessary but harmful, as leading men
to trust in human resources rather than in the power of
the Holy Spirit. It is needless to say that under such
circumstances emotional excitement was often mistaken by
ministers and people for spiritual quickening.
Brown University was still, at the beginning of the
C 1 1 A [■. 1 . ] EA KL y EDL TJ 7 VOXA L EFFOR 7 'S. 3 8 I
present period, the only degree-conferriny; institution
under Baptist control. The Baptists of the Charleston
Association had established an Education Fund in
1 791, and before 1810 had expended $3397 i" assisting
young men in preparing for the ministry ; but the nineteen
young men aided before 18 13 had either pursued their
studies privately under the direction of pastors or had
been sent to colleges already established. The elder Dr.
W. T. Brantly was assisted at South Carolina College, and
some before and after this date were sent to Brown Uni-
versity. In the same year (1791) the Warren Association
established a charitable fund " for the purpose of assisting
such young men of the Baptist denomination as may ap-
pear to be suitably qualified for the ministry, with a col-
legiate education." A " Board of Trustees of the Baptist
Education Fund " was afterward constituted. The Bap-
tists of Georgia had made an earnest efTort during the
first decade of the century to found a college; but the
time for success was not yet. The question of denomina-
tional education had for many years been agitated among
Virginia Baptists, but those who were really interested in
the matter w^ere so few that nothing could be accomplished
until long after the beginning of the present period. Op-
position was more pronounced to ministerial than to
literary education under denominational auspices. The
enlightened and enterprising men who labored for the
estabHshment of a Baptist college in Georgia felt it nec-
es.sary, as has been seen, to guard against the supposition
that the proposed college was " designed for the education
of our children with a view to the ministry." Many who
favored denominational literary education would have
looked upon a modern theological seminary as a human
efTort to accomplish that which is God's sole prerogative.
In 1812 the Baptist Education Society of the Middle
382 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
States was formed, and under its auspices Dr. William
Staughton, of Philadelphia, began to instruct students for
the ministry.
Hand in hand with the widespread opposition to minis-
terial education went a strong prejudice against ministerial
salaries. If without spending time and means in securing an
education, and without special study in the preparation of
sermons, men are qualified by the Holy Ghost to preach
the gospel, why should they not support themselves by
pursuing the ordinary secular occupations? As a matter
of fact most of those who felt called to enter the ministry
possessed farms and (especially in the South) slaves to
cultivate them. Many men thus situated and having a
fair education to begin with devoted a large amount of
time to private study and became good literary and theo-
logical scholars ; but a large proportion undoubtedly fell
very far short of attaining to such a grasp of truth as would
have made them instructive preachers. Noisy declama-
tion in unnatural tones, accompanied by violent physical
exercises and manifest emotional excitement, in too many
cases took the place of intelligent exposition of the truth
made vital by the indwelling power of the Spirit. The
latter part of the preceding period and the beginning of the
present produced a large number of Baptist preachers of
the highest grade; but the average of ministerial culture
was low, and the large amount of illiteracy in the ministry,
and the widespread satisfaction with an illiterate ministry,
furnished an obstacle of the most serious nature to the on-
ward and upward movement that has characterized the
recent history of the denomination.
The facts just referred to enable us to account for the
general neglect of the cities and towns. Town people
were less susceptible to the evangelistic methods employed,
and were less willinsf to listen to the earnest but uncouth
Chap, i.] ILLITERATE PREACHERS. 383
exhortations of illiterate preachers. Most of those who en-
tered the ministry then, as now, were country-bred, and
preferred to live on their farms and preach within reach
of their homes rather than attempt to plant churches in
the towns and cities. As there were no home mission
societies to encourage the occupation of important centers,
it was difficult to find men properly qualified for town
work that could gain a support while doing foundation
work. Many of the ablest ministers, some of whom could
have afforded to live in cities and devote themselves to
the upbuilding of city churches, preferred the independence
of rural life and work, and declined calls to city pastorates.
These remarks apply more particularly to the South and
least of all to New England, where from the beginning
town life was emphasized. Scores of cases might be cited
in which the ablest preachers persistently declined city
pastorates, even when good salaries were offered. The
case of Andrew Broaddus, of Virginia, whose ministry ex-
tended from I 79 1 to 1848, has many parallels. He pre-
ferred to minister to country churches, though sought for
by leading churches in Boston, New York, Philadelphia,
Baltimore, Norfolk, and Richmond. At one time he was
prevailed upon to accept the pastorate of the First Church,
Richmond, but he soon resigned in favor of his beloved
country churches in Caroline Count)^. The case of Rich-
ard Furman, who left the High Hills of Santee to accept
the Charleston pastorate, and who gained in the chief city
of South Carolina an almost unparalleled influence, is ex-
ceptional ; and the strong and highly intelligent cliurch that
he built up shows what might have been accomplished in
other cities if the very best men had been willing to de-
vote their lives to city work. It was with the utmost
difficulty that churches like those of Boston, New York,
and Philadelphia could supply vacancies when they oc-
384 ^'^^^ BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
curred. These remarks apply to the latter part of the pre-
ceding period and the early part of the present.
Little had been attempted in the way of periodical lit-
erature before the beginning of the present period. Henry
Holcombe's " Analytical Repository " (1801-02) failed to
receive the support necessary for its continuance. The
next venture of the kind was the " Massachusetts Baptist
Missionary Magazine," the first number of which was
published in September, 1803. The twelfth number,
completing the first volume, was not reached until Janu-
ary, 1808. Dr. Thomas Baldwin, pastor of the Second
Church, Boston, and one of the most eminent Baptist
ministers of the time, edited it for the first fourteen years.
Its publication has been continuous to the present time.
In 1826 it became the organ of the Triennial Convention
and omitted the State name from its title. At first it was
a religious miscellany. The work of English Baptist mis-
sionaries was kept constantly before its readers, and home
mission matters were duly emphasized.
From the very beginning there was much of domestic
missionary work accomplished by Baptists. Nothing was
more characteristic of the Separate Baptists than the mis-
sionary spirit that impelled them to carry the gospel into
the most remote and destitute regions. The Philadelphia
Association was from its organization largely interested in
church extension and evangelization, and its beneficent
work has been duly recorded. The Charleston Associa-
tion entered upon home mission work early in its history
and did not remit its fruitful efforts for supplying destitute
regions with gospel privileges. In fact, every Association
gave some attention to home evangelization.
As early as 1800 some Baptist and Congregational
women of Boston united in forming the Boston Female
Society for Missionary Purposes, and Cent Societies
CiiAi'. I.]. EARLY MISSIOXARY SOCIETIES. 385
were soon afterward organized in many Baptist churches
throughout the country. In 1802 the Massacliusetts
Domestic Missionary Society was formed, the object
being " to furnish occasional preaching and to promote
the knowledge of evangelic truth in the new settlements
in these United States; or further, if circumstances should
render it proper." The work of this society soon extended
to Maine, Canada, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois,
and Missouri. Joseph Cornell, who was sent to New York
State and Canada, reported that he had traveled six him-
dred miles without meeting a minister of the gospel. The
society early determined to " know neither East nor West,
North nor South," but to extend gospel privileges in e\'ery
direction as far as means would allow.
The Lake Baptist Missionary Society was formed at
Pompe}', Onondaga County, N. Y., in 1807, and in 1809
became the Hamilton Missionary Society. The aim of
this society was domestic evangelization. An auxiliary
female society was soon afterward organized, and in 1812
presented the general society with " twenty yards of fulled
cloth," accompanied by an address full of the missionary
spirit.
It would be a mistake to suppose that the Baptists of
America were first brought to recognize their obligation
to aid in propagating the gospel in foreign parts by the
conversion of Judson and Rice. From the beginning of
the English Baptist missionary movement under Carey,
American Baptists manifested the deepest interest in the
work. Carey was early in correspondence with represent-
ative American Baptists, such as Drs. Rogers and Staugh-
ton of Philadelphia, Mr. Williams of New York, Dr^. Still-
man and Baldwin of BostcMi, Dr. P^urman (^f Charleston,
etc. In 1805 Benjamin Wickes, of Philadelphia, a pious
Presbyterian sea-captain wlio had taken out se\-eral of the
386 THE BAPTISTS. [Plk. hi.
missionaries and had become profoundly interested in their
work, visited the Baptist mission in India. On his return
through England he secured one thousand guineas from
the Baptist Missionary Society for pubHshing versions of
the Scriptures by Carey and Marshman, and undertook
to raise an additional sum in America. Ministers of vari-
ous denominations in Philadelphia united in signing an
appeal for funds for this purpose and in commending
Captain Wickes as trustworthy. A number of ministers
of various denominations in different localities throughout
the country were designated as agents for receiving and
transmitting funds. Under the influence of this appeal
by the Philadelphia ministers the ministers of various
denominations in Boston took the matter up with great
heartiness and put forth (April, 1806) an equally enthu-
siastic appeal on behalf of the Bible translation fund.
These documents (published in the " Massachusetts Mis-
sionary Magazine," June, 1806) show how profoundly
impressed the leaders of the various evangelical denomi-
nations were with the importance of the work that was
being done by Carey and his coadjutors, and how cordial
had become the relations between Baptists and other
evangelical bodies in the great centers. A large pro-
portion of the money raised at this time was due to the
efi"orts of Drs. Furman and Keith, of Charleston. From
this time till the inauguration of American Bapti-st foreign
missionary work considerable sums were collected from
year to year and forwarded to the missionaries at Seram-
pore. In 18 12 the Baptist churches of Philadelphia began
holding a monthly concert of prayer " for the spread of
tlie ever-blessed go.spel." Besides these monthly union
meetings, " quarterly prayer-meetings for the spread of
the gospel " were held by members of each church, usually
in the homes of those specially interested. In May. 181 3,
Chap, i.] THE ADl'ANCE MOVEMEXT. 387
a Special missionary sermon was preached and a collec-
tion taken " for the purpose of assisting the mission at
Serampore toward reimbursing the loss by the late con-
flagration."
The period on which we are entering has been one of
unexampled material development. Immigration on a
large scale had already set in, and the process of occupy-
ing the vast regions in the interior had made good prog-
ress. It was to go forvv'ard with accelerated speed. In
18 1 3 cities were few and small, and the great preponder-
ance of influence, especially in the South, was in the rural
districts. Cities have grown in a far greater ratio than the
population and have become the great centers of influence.
As already suggested, outside of a few of the older and
more important cities the great mass of the Baptist popu-
lation was gathered in country churches, many of them
well organized and vigorous and enjoying the services of
the ablest men the denomination could produce. In 18 13
few of the ablest men could be induced to accept a city
pastorate; in 1894 few gifted men are content to labor
permanently in the country, and city pastorates are cov-
eted as conditions of the highest ministerial influence.
The growth of the Baptist denomination has more than
kept pace with the phenomenal growth of population and
material resources. This growth is manifest alike in num-
bers, in culture, in influence upon the general religious life
of the nation, in home and foreign evangelization, in edu-
cational institutions and their work, and in the quality and
quantity of literary product.
CHAPTER II.
THE TRIENNIAL CONVENTION (1814-45).^
The missionary spirit had been increasing so rapidly
within the last few years of the preceding period that,
apart from the event that sent a wave of enthusiasm from
Maine to Georgia, energetic measures for the fulfillment of
the great commission could not long have been deferred.
The denomination had gained important moral victories
in the recent past and stood forth prominently as one of
the great aggressive religious forces of the land. It had
been greatly prospered within the first decade of the cent-
ury and had doubled its membership in a few years. It
was becoming conscious as never before of the greatness
of its opportunities and responsibilities. American Bap-
tists had been deeply impressed by the w^ork of Carey and
his as.sociates and had given liberally of their means for
the furtherance of this work. The mi.ssionary zeal of a
group of Andover and Williams College students had re-
sulted in the organization of the American Board of Com-
missioners for Foreign Missions (18 10) and the sending
1 On this and the following chapter, cf. " Bapt. Miss. Mag."; " Bapt.
Memorial"; " Bapt. H. Miss, in N. A., 1832-1882"; " Reports" of the
Triennial Convention, the Home and For. Miss. Societies, Publication Soc,
Am. and For. Bib. Soc, and Bib. Union ; Bitting, " Bib. Soc. and the Bapt." ;
"Bapt. and the Nat. Centenary"; "Hist. Am. Bapt. Pub. Soc"; Bene-
dict, " Fifty Years among the Bapt." ; biographies of Judson, Mercer, Bald-
win, Rice, Peck, Wayland, Colgate, Cone, Fuller, Poindexter, Stow, etc. ;
Cathcart; Campbell ; 'Holcombe, "Ala. Bapt."; " Hist, of the Bapt. Den.
in Ga." ; Duncan ; Paxton ; " First Cent, of the First Bapt. Ch. of Richmond,
Va." ; and " Two Cent. First Bapt. Ch. of S. C."
388
Chap, ii.] COXl'EKSIOX OF THE Ji'DSOXS. 389
forth of Judson, Newell, Hall, Nott, and Rice (February,
18 1 2). Many American Baptists had no doubt been led
thereby to inquire whether God had not a work for them
to do in heathen lands.
During the voyage to India, Judson and his wife were
led, through a study of the Scriptures, to change their
views with reference to the subjects and the mode of
baptism, and on their arrival in India were baptized by
Ward, September 6, 181 2. Rice, who had taken passage
by another vessel, when he learned of the trying yet
blessed experience of his fellow-missionaries, began at
once to examine the grounds on which infant baptism w'as
commonly justified, and came to the conclusion that it was
not only without Scriptural warrant, but that it also in-
volved a perversion of an ordinance of Christ. He was
accordingly baptized by Ward on November i, 181 2. It
may be readily surmised that they did not take this im-
portant step without duly considering the grave responsi-
bility in\'olved. They had been chiefly instrumental in
awakening an interest in foreign missions among the Con-
gregationalists of America and in bringing about the
organization of what was to become one of the greatest
of missionary societies. The dismay and the indignation of
those that had been led by them to enlist in this work and
to send them out, with the discouragement of many friends
of missions, they doubtless expected. Yet loyalty to Christ
required them to face the reproach of being regarded as
disloyal to their brethren.
On August 31st Judson addressed a letter to Dr.
Thomas Baldwin, of Boston, acknowledging the help he
had received from writings of his, and inclosing a copy of
his application to Dr. Carey for baptism. In the latter
the following statement occurs : " My inquiries commenced
during my passage from America, and, after much labori-
390 THE BAPTISTS. [I'kr. hi.
ous research and painful trial, . . . have issued in entire
conviction that tlie iinmcrsion of a professing believer is
the only Christian baptism. In these exercises I have not
been alone. Mrs. Judson has been engaged in a similar
examination, and has come to the same conclusion." In
a letter to the secretary of the American Board he makes
a manly and straightforward but thoroughly conciliatory
statement of his change of conviction and his withdrawal
from the service of the Board. He speaks of the dissolu-
tion of his connection with the Board of Commissioners
and separation from his dear missionary brethren as " the
most distressing events that have ever befallen me."
" Whether the Baptist churches in America will com-
passionate my situation, I know not." In a second letter
to Dr. Baldwin (September ist) he wrote: "Should there
be formed a Baptist society for the support of a mission in
these parts, I shall be ready to consider myself their mis-
sionary." In a letter of the same date to Dr. Bolles, pastor of
the Salem Baptist church, he shows that he had thought
of the duty of Baptists in the foreign field before his em-
barkation : "I recollect that, during a short interview I
had with you in Salem, I suggested the formation of a
society among the Baptists in America for the support of
foreign missions, in imitation of the exertions of your
English brethren. Little did I then expect to be person-
ally concerned in such an attempt." After narrating his
experiences and the necessity that existed for his severing
his connection with the Board of Commissioners, he pro-
ceeds : " Under these circumstances I look to you. Alone
in this foreign heathen land, I make my appeal to those
whom, with their permission, I will call my Baptist brethren
in the United States."
Luther Rice, who was thought, as Carey relates, " to
be the most obstinate friend of pedobaptism of any of
Chap, ii.] THE NEWS REACHES AMERICA. 39 1
the missionaries," soon followed Mr. and Mrs. Judson in
submitting- to baptism at the hands of Mr. Ward.
The difficulties encountered by Judson in securing en-
trance to a suitable field of labor, and the way in which
he was led to Burmah, where his great life-work was to
be accomplished, cannot here be narrated. Rice resolved
to return to America in order to make proper arrange-
ments with the Board of Commissioners and to enHst the
sympathies of the Baptists in Judson's proposed mission.
It was his intention to return to the foreign work as soon
as he should have secured a basis of support.
The news of the conversion of the Judsons reached
America in January, 181 3. Drs. Baldwin and Bolles lost
no time in informing the denomination of what had oc-
curred and inaugurating organized effort for the support
of the missionaries. A meeting of leading Baptists of
Boston and vicinity at the house of Ur. Baldwin resulted
in the formation of " The Baptist Society for Propagating
the Gospel in India and other Foreign Parts." Dr. Bald-
win was chosen president and Daniel Sharp secretary.
This society undertook to raise money for the support of
the Judsons, but thought it would be advisable for a time
to act as an auxiliary of the English society. The English
society, however, advised independent work. Not wish-
ing to assume the responsibility of organizing a general
society, and contemplating the probability of the organ-
ization of similar societies in other parts of the country,
the following provision was inserted in the constitution of
the Boston society : " Should societies be formed in other
places, ha\'ing the same objects in view, the board would
appoint one or more persons to unite with delegates from
such other societies in forming a General Committee, in
order more effectually to accomplish the important objects
contemplated by this institution."
392
THE BAPTISTS. [Pkr. m.
Other societies followed, especially after the arrival (in
the summer of 1813) of Luther Rice, who was requested
by the New England brethren to visit the Eastern, Middle,
and Southern States for the purpose of forming local so-
cieties and preparing the way for united effort. One of
the most vigorous and influential of these societies was
that formed by the Savannah Association (comprising
churches in Georgia and South Carolina) in November.
1813. Dr. W. B. Johnson was its president and Dr.
W. T. Brantly its corresponding secretary. This body
addressed a remarkable circular " to the inhabitants of
Georgia, and the adjacent parts of South Carolina."
After a most eloquent statement of the obligation of
Christians to engage in efforts for the evangelization of
the world, and of the providential circumstances that called
for immediate action, the document proceeds: " Since the .
secession of our dear brethren. Rice, Judson and lady, . . .
several missionary societies have been formed by the Bap-
tists in America. These societies have for their object the
establishment and support of foreign missions ; and it is
contemplated that delegates from them all will convene in
some central situation in the United States, for the purpose
of organizing an efficient and practicable plan, on which the
energies of the whole Baptist denomination, throughout
America, may be elicited, combined, and directed, in one
sacred effort for sending the word of life to idolatrous
lands. What a sublime spectacle will the convention pre-
sent! A numerous body of the Lord's people, embracing
in their connection from 100,000 to 200,000 souls, all rising
in obedience to their Lord, and meeting, by delegation, in
one august assembly, solemnly to engage in one sacred
effort for effectuating the great command : ' Go ye into
all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature ' !
What spectacle can more solemnly interest the benevolent
Chap. ii.J GEXERAL COXVEXTIOX. 393
heart? What can be more acceptable to our hea\enly
Father? . . . God has put great honor upon us in giving
us so favorable an opportunity of coming up ' to the help
of the Lord against the miglit)'.' In doing so he has con-
ferred on us a distinguished pri\ilege. Shall we be insen-
sible of the honor? Shall we disregard the privilege?
God forbid! Living in a country whose generous soil
yields, with moderate industry, more than a sufSciency of
the comforts of life, and professing, in great numbers, to
be redeemed from our iniquities, our obligations to exert
ourselves for the benefit of our race and the glory of God
are great indeed. . . . And we trust, in our attempt to
a :t in this manner, no sectarian views, no indi\'idual prej-
udices, no party considerations, will have leave to operate
any unfriendly influence upon a design concei\'ed in disin-
terested bene\'olence, and ha\ing for its object the good
of man and the honor of his Creator."
On May 18, 18 14, thirty-three delegates, representing
eleven States, met in Philadelphia with- a view to effecting
a general organization for foreign mission work. Richard
Furman, of South Carolina, probably the most eminent
and influential Baptist minister in America at the time,
was appointed president, and Dr. Thomas Baldwin, of
Massachusetts, secretary. The society organized took
the name " General Missionary Con\ention of the Baptist
Denomination in the United States of America for Foreign
Missions." It was arranged that it should meet triennially
(hence the designation Triennial Convention). According
to its constitution it vras to be composed of delegates from
societies contributing not less than $100 a year to the
funds of the Convention. A Board of Commission-
ers (twenty-one in number) was constituted for the " ex-
ecutive part of the missionary concern." Dr. Baldwin
was chosen first president of the board and Dr. William
394 ^^^^ BAPTISTS. [I'KR. 111.
StauL,rhton, of Philadelphia, corresponding" secretary. It
was arranged that PhiladeljDhia should be the headquar-
ters of the board. In 1822, with the opening of Colum-
bian College under the auspices of the Convention, the
seat of the board was transferred to Washington, where
it remained till the severance of the direct relation be-
tween the college and the board in 1826, when it was
removed to Boston.
The Judsons, who by this time had begun work in
Burmah, were accepted as missionaries, and Rice was ap-
pointed agent of the Convention to visit the churches on
behalf of the foreign mission cause.
The bringing of the denomination together in so noble a
cause constitutes one of the great events in the history of
the Baptists. Such a union had been for years an object
of endeavor on the part of a few of the foreseeing leaders
of the denomination ; but to bring about a realization of
such aspirations required the enthusiasm awakened by the
accession of Judson and Rice to the Baptist ranks and the
providential opening up of Baptist foreign mission work.
Rice proved a most effective agent. Possessed of a
robust constitution, he was able to endure an incredible
amount of rough travel, and his eloquence and enthusiasm
won the hearts of multitudes to the cause he had espoused.
Through his zealous efforts, seconded by those of the noble
ministers who had heartily embraced the cause, the con-
tributions, which in 1 8 14 amounted to $1239.29, reached
$12,236.84 for the year 1816. Multitudes of auxiliary
societies were organized, and many of the Associations
made foreign missions one of their leading objects. The
early stages of the missionary movement synchronized
with the war with Great Britain, into which Baptists en-
tered with enthusiasm. They seem to have contemplated
the possibility of the loss of the civil and religious freedom
CnAi'. 11.] MIXISTERIAL EDUCATIOA'. 395
that had been gained by the Revohition as a result of
British triumph, and their zeal for American rights was
unbounded. By 181 7 the war was a matter of history,
and thanksgiving was the order of the day.
The second meetiiig of the Triennial Convention was
held in Philadelphia in 181 7, and was in many respects
one of the most important. Foreign missions had found
many friends, but an amount of opposition had manifested
itself in some quarters that augured ill for the unit}' of the
denomination. Rice had become convinced, as a result
of his four years of travel among the churches, that the
great enemy of foreign missions and of denominational
progress was ignorance, and that a condition of large suc-
cess in foreign missions was an educated ministry. Men
must be educated for the foreign field, and educated
pastors must teach the people God's truth and enlighten
their minds as to their responsibility for the evangelization
of the world. It seemed to him and to many others that
the most efTective way to promote the foreign mission
cause would be to found a great national Baptist educa-
tional institution. The Convention of 1 8 14 had recog-
nized the importance of ministerial education. The Trien-
nial Convention of 181 7 took the matter up in an efTective
manner. Foremost in pressing the claims of ministerial
education on the attention of the Convention was the
venerated Furman. The following article was at this
time incorporated in the constitution : " That when com-
petent and distinct funds shall have been received for the
purpose, the board from these, without resorting at all to
the mission funds, shall proceed to institute a classical and
theological seminary, for the purpose of aiding young men
who, in the judgment of the churches of which they are
members, and of the board, possess gifts and graces suited
to the gospel ministry."
396 THE BAPTISTS. Ll'i-i- I""
A committee appointed by the Com eiition reported to
the board in May, 1818, that " no adequate reason can be
assigned for further delay. The pubHc arc entitled to
expect some vigorous attempt on the part of the board.
The Convention has left this business to their sacred
charge. Numerous youth are waiting to avail themselves
of the privileges of a literary and theological institution,
and the widening sphere of missionary effort already un-
dertaken renders an accession of godly and educated
youth highly desirable." Dr. William Staughton and
Rev. I rah Chase were invited to take charge ' f an insti-
tution that. had as yet no resources beyond the good-will
of the denomination as expressed through the Convention.
After educating a number of men who proved able and
useful, this institution was merged in Columbian College
at its opening in 1822. It graduated its first classes in
1 82 I. Funds for the assistance of students and the main-
tenance of the institution were collected chiefly by Luther
■Rice, who advocated the cause of education with all the
enthusiasm of his nature, along with that of foreign mis-
sions.
Before the Convention of 181 7 it had also become evident
to leading minds that the permanence and success of
foreign mission work required that attention be given
in an organized way to home evangelization, and that the
latter was as necessary as the former to the fulfillment of
the great commission. As early as 181 5 Luther Rice
had said : " Not only do I conceive it proper that a
mission should be established in the West, on account of
the importance of the region in itself, but indispensably
necessary to satisfy the wishes and expectations of pious
people in all parts of the United States." Rice had in
mind particularly the Missouri Territory, and he urged
the board to take .speedy action. The matter was de-
Chap, ii.] HOME MISSIOX WORK. 397
ferred, however, until the meeting of tlie Convention in
181 7, when the constitution was so altered as to leave it
at the discretion of the board " to appropriate a portion of
their funds to domestic missionary purposes, in such parts
of this country where the seed of the word may be ad-
vantageously cast, and which mission societies, on a small
scale, do not effectively reach." Under this authorization
John M. Peck and James E. Welch, both of whom had
studied under Dr. Staughton, were solemnly designated
to mission work in the West. In sending forth these
evangelists the board expressed the conviction that " west-
ern as well as eastern regions are given to the Son of God
as an inheritance, and that liis gospel will triumph amid
the settlers of the Mississippi and the sublimer Missouri,
and extend to the red inhabitants of the wilderness."
Welch, after laboring successfully in the West for three
years, returned to the East and became agent for the
American Sunday-school Union. In 1848 he remo\ed
to Missouri, where he labored for many years in planting
and building up churches. Peck might well be called the
apostle of the West. He gave his entire life from the time
of his appointment to the planting and fostering of Baptist
principles in Missouri, Illinois, and adjacent territories.
After 1 820 he was for some time in the employ of the
Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Society. At Rock Isl-
and, 111., he established (1827) a seminary of general and
theological instruction, which at one time had a hundred
students and which was afterward amalgamated with the
institution at Upper Alton, afterward to become Shurtleff
College. As a means of forwarding his educational and
missionary work, and of counteracting the errors of Dan-
iel Parker and of Alexander Campbell, he published (1829
onward) a periodical, under various names. No man in
his time was so w^ell acquainted with the territory in which
:.C)8 THE BAPTISTS. [1'er. iu.
lie labored, and he made contributions of the utmost value
to the denominational and general history of this region.
Thus a national educational and a national home mission
movement had by 1817 grown out of the efforts to estab-
lish on a firm basis the national foreign mission enterprise.
During the next triennial period Rice labored with con-
suming zeal for the establishment of a national Baptist
university at the nation's capital. He fully appreciated
the vast advantages that would accrue to the denomina-
tion from the establishment of an institution of high grade
in the city of Washington, and the economy that would be
involved in utilizing the educational appliances that were
already available and were sure to increase in importance
and value at the center of national government. For a
time the idea of a great national Baptist university gained
such a hold upon the denominational sympathies as almost
to dispute the first place with the foreign mission cause.
State enterprises, that had previously occupied denomina-
tional attention, were for some time kept in abeyance.
Education societies were organized in many localities, and
considerable money had been raised for this purpose before
the Triennial Convention of 1 820. An eligible site was
purchased in Washington, and buildings were projected
that " were intended to range with the cardinal points of
the compass, and to exhibit the best possible view from
every direction, combining economy, utility, convenience,
and magnificence."
Most of the responsibility in planning and contracting
for the buildings and equipment, and in arranging for the
support of the faculty, was allowed to rest upon Rice, who
still bore the responsibility of raising funds for missions.
Full of enthusiasm, and ever sanguine even in the face of
discouragements, he went far beyond the funds available
for the purpose and involved the institution in debt. At
Chap, ii.] COLUMBIAX COLLEGE. 399
a meeting of the board in April, 1821, it was decided to
open the college for students in theology in September,
1 82 1, and for students in arts in January, 1822. The out-
lines of a curriculum were drafted on this occasion, and a
theological faculty was nominated, consisting of William
Staughton, president, and Irah Chase and Alva Woods,
professors. It was further resolved to nominate two pro-
fessors for the classical department. Several eminent men
in Washington, otherwise employed, agreed to give courses
of lectures gratuitously, and a salaried professor and a
tutor were added before the opening in January, 1822.
Baptists had the sympathy and support of such leading
statesmen as John Ouincy Adams and James Monroe in
this enterprise, and the former especially gave large prac-
tical aid. Internally the college prospered. A large
number of able students entered its classes. But by 1826
it had become inextricably involved in debt. So desperate
had become the financial situation that mission funds were
seriously drawn upon to meet necessary payments. As
Rice had been foremost in collecting, handling, and des-
ignating funds, he was obliged to bear the brunt of the
blame that fell upon the board when the finances came
to be investigated. It was commonly agreed that Rice
was among the most unselfish of men, but was lacking in
business capacity and had allowed himself to plan ex-
penditures on a scale far beyond what prudence would
have dictated. The accounts of receipts and expenditures
were very loosely kept, and it was not easy to determine
precisely what funds had been given for missions and
education respectively. Some were so uncharitable as to
suspect Rice and others of a dishonest use of funds; but
he showed his disinterested devotion to the cause by giv-
ing into the funds of the college not only the money he
had been able to save during twelve years of arduous serv-
400 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
ice at a salary of $400 a year, but also a patrimony of
$2000 or $3000. Removed from the responsible agency,
he continued till his death, in 1836, to labor assiduously,
without remuneration, for the institution that he loved
with rare devotion, and when dying requested that his
horse and buggy, his only possessions, be sent to the
agent of the college.
The funds of the Convention were further drawn upon
by the journalistic enterprises of the agent. The value of
religious journalism was fully appreciated by this enter-
prising man. He hoped that the "Columbian Star" (a
weekly begun in 1822) and the " Latter Day Luminary "
(first a quarterly and afterward a monthly, 18 16 onward)
would more than pay their way through their subscription
lists and the additional interest they would create in the
objects of the Convention. In this, as in many of his
other projects, he was too sanguine.
Before the crisis referred to had been reached it had
been decided to abandon the theological department of
the college and to turn this work over to the Massachu-
setts Baptist Education Society, that hoped, with the
cooperation of the other New England States, to make
suitable provision for its maintenance. A charter was se-
cured in 1826, and Newton Theological Institution opened
its doors for students in 1825. Irah Chase was transferred
from Columbian College as president, and Henry J. Ripley
was appointed as his colleague.
So profound was the dissatisfaction of the denomination
with the diversion of missionary funds to educational pur-
poses that it was thought advisable in 1826 to dissociate
the college as completely as possible from the Convention,
the right of nominating fifty persons from whom the board
should be chosen being the only coimection retained.
The demands of the work undertaken among the Indians
Chap, ii.] A'£STAVC7V0X OF EFFORT. 40 1
of America were found to be far greater than the Conven-
tion had counted on, and the demands of the foreign work
were rapidly increasing. It was determined in 1826 to
concentrate attention more and more upon foreign work,
and, apart from maintaining the Indian mission stations in
Michigan, New York, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia,
opened some time before, to leave domestic evangelization
to other agencies. The chief cause of the withdrawal of
the Convention from domestic mission work was the wide-
spread dissatisfaction on the part of pioneer Baptist minis-
ters and their churches in the West, that was soon to de-
velop into pronounced anti-missionary sentiment.
It will not be practicable to give in any detail the history
of the work on the foreign field. The labors and the suf-
ferings of the Judsons, the encouraging and th.e discour-
aging features of their work during the first two decades,
are familiar to all students of foreign missions. Judson
won for liimself a place among the greatest missionaries of
the ages, and for the cause of Christ some of the greatest
triumphs of modern times. The mission was reinforced
from time to time by new appointments of noble men and
women, and at times seemed likely to be utterly extin-
guished and the missionaries destroyed by the hostility of
the despotic government. But faith and perseverance
triumphed, not without sufferings, however, that resulted
in premature deaths that may well be called martyrdoms.
Up to 1828 there was little to show for the toils and suffer-
ings of the heroic missionaries and of the friends of missions
at home ; but the martyr sufferings of Ava and Oung-pen-
la had stirred the hearts of American Baptists and prepared
the way for a great enlargement of the work. Foundation
work of the utmost importance in the mastery of the lan-
guage and in Bible translation had been accomplished, and
enough converts had been won to demonstrate the fact
402 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
that even in Burmah the gospel is the power of God unto
salvation.
About 1815 the colored Baptists of Richmond became
fired with missionary enthusiasm, organized the Rich-
mond Baptist African Missionary Society, and began at
once to raise funds for a mission in Africa. Lott Carey
and Collin Teague were sent out with funds thus raised
under the direction of the general board, and began work
in 1822 at Monrovia in Liberia, where a number of Amer-
ican freedmen were attempting to establish a colony.
Carey was a man of marked ability and high character,
and his labors were greatly blessed. The triumphs and
discouragements of this mission cannot be here detailed.
The expenditures of the board during the year ending
April, 1827, were $15,408.32. The Indian (American)
schools were largely supported by government grants.
Among the important results of the stimulus given to
denominational life by the foreign mission movement,
through the Triennial Convention and the agencies it
employed, was the formation of State Conventions. Mas-
sachusetts had State denominational organization as early
as 1802. Under the impulse of the missionary movement
South Carolina followed in 1821. The controlling influ-
ence in the formation of the Convention was that of Rich-
ard Furman. In December, 1821, delegates from the
Charleston, Edgefield, and Savannah River Associations
met at Columbia for the purpose of effecting a State or-
ganization. It was designed to be " a bond of union, a
center of intelligence, and a means of vigorous, united
exertion in the cause of God, for the promotion of truth
and righteousness; that so those energies, intellectual,
moral, and pecuniary, which God has bestowed upon the
denomination in this State, might be concentrated, and
brought into vigorous, useful operation." "The grand
Chap, ii.] STATE COXVEXTIOXS. 403
objects" of the Convention are stated in the constitution
to be " the promotion of evangeHcal and useful knowl-
edge, by means of religious education ; the support of
missionary service among the destitute; and the cultiva-
tion of measures promotive of the true interest of the
churches of Christ in general, and of their union, love, and
harmony in particular." "The organization and support
of a seminary of learning in this State, for the gratuitous
education of indigent, pious young men for the gospel
ministry, on a plan in accordance with the interests of
that established by the denomination at large [Columbian
College], . . . shall be considered by this body as an ob-
ject of primary importance." The Convention promised
" to use their vigorous efforts to engage the most able,
pious, and suitable ministers of the denomination in the
prosecution of missionary service." The encouragement
of Sunday-schools and the religious instruction of children
in families are other specified objects of the Convention.
The fact that only three of the seven Associations par-
ticipated in the organization of the Convention is an indi-
cation of the opposition to the advance movement that
was already becoming aggressive in this as well as in other
States.
The example of South Carolina was speedily followed
by Georgia, and in a few years most of the older States
had their Conventions, with objects similar to those of the
South Carolina. In nearly all the States the most bitter
opposition was encountered, and in some the opposition
was so strong as to cause the postponement of State or-
ganization for a number of years. Particulars with refer-
ence to the anti-mission movement must be deferred to a
later chapter. In Georgia vigorous efTorts had been made
during the first decade of the century for general organi-
zation in the interest of education and missions. Not-
404 ^-^^-^ BAPTISTS. [I'l'^i- HI-
withstanding earnest efforts to secure the cooperation of
all the Georgia Associations in the formation of the Gen-
eral Association (called the Convention from 1827) only-
two sent delegates to Powelton in June, 1822. The
Georgia Association was represented by Jesse Mercer,
W. T. Brantly, W. Hilman, James Armstrong, and J. P.
Marshall ; the Ocmulgee by Cyrus White. A number of
other brethren were present as individuals and took part
in the deliberations, among them Adiel Sherwood, after-
ward to become one of the most eminent leaders of the
denomination. This was a small representation for the
inauguration of so important an enterprise ; but men like
Mercer and Brantly felt that a beginning must be made.
A constitution was adopted in which " the specific objects "
are stated to be: "i. To unite the influence and pious in-
telligence of Georgia Baptists, and thereby to facilitate
their union and cooperation. 2. To form and encourage
plans for the revival of experimental and practical religion
in the State and elsewhere. 3. To promote uniformity of
sentiment and discipline. 4. To aid in giving effect to the
useful plans of the Association. 5. To afford an oppor-
tunity to those who may conscientiously think it their duty
to form a fund for the education of pious young men who
may be called by the Spirit and their churches to the
Christian ministry. 6. To correspond with bodies of
other religious denominations on topics of general interest
to the Redeemer's kingdom, and to promote pious and
useful education in the Baptist denomination."
An eloquent statement, penned, no doubt, by the zeal-
ous and accomplished Brantly, was sent forth to the de-
nomination throughout the State, explaining the objects
of the General Association, vindicating it from the objec-
tions that were likely to be raised against it, and pleading
for active cooperation. In the face of an appalling amount
Chap, ii.] NEW ENGLAND CONVENTIONS. 405
of unreasonable opposition the State organization gradually
won its way and became highly influential.
In New England little of the anti-missionary spirit man-
ifested itself and State organizations were formed with
comparative ease. The dates of organization were : Con-
necticut, 1823; Maine, 1824; Vermont, 1825; New Hamp-
shire, 1826. Various general missionary and other societies
were at work in New York before 1821, when the State
Missionary Convention was organized. In 1825, through
the union of this body witli the Hamilton Missionary
Society, the State Convention, on its present basis, was
formed. Virginia had long enjoj-ed united denomina-
tional action. The General Meeting of Correspondence,
which had taken the place of the General Committee in
1800, gave place to the Baptist General Association of
Virginia in 1823. Here, also, powerful and determined
opposition was encountered. Out of the twenty Associa-
tions in the State, with a membership of about forty thou-
sand, only fifteen delegates, representing a few of the As-
sociations, were present at the meeting for organization.
Pennsylvania secured State organization in 1827, and New
Jersey in 1830. In North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky,
and Missouri the opposition was so powerful as to baffle
the efforts of the friends of missions and education to effect
State organization. The Conventions, wlien formed, rep-
resented a small fraction of the denomination, but by faith
and perseverance they have been able to draw to themselves
the strength of the body. After repeated failures, organiza-
tion was effected in North Carolina in 1830, in Tennessee
in 1832, in Missouri in 1834, in Kentucky in 1832 and
(after the dissolution of the first organization) perma-
nently in 1837.
The agitation by Luther Rice and others on behalf of a
national Baptist university stimulated the desire that had
406 THE BAPTISTS. [Pkk. hi.
long before found expression in se\'eral of the States for
Baptist institutions of learning. This strong desire for
local institutions, together with the discouragement that
resulted from the unwise and almost disastrous financial
management of Columbian College, caused such a with-
drawal of interest from the latter as seriously to threaten
its existence. It was doubtless a mistake to attempt to
found a national university in advance of the establishment
of State denominational institutions.
The earliest of these new State denominational institu-
tions to appear was that in Maine. In 1813 a charter had
been secured, and in 1818 Jeremiah Chaplin began giving
instruction in theology and other branches to a small num-
ber of students at Waterville. In 1820 this school, opened
under denominational patronage, assumed college func-
tions. Instruction was given in theology as well as in arts
until the opening of Newton Theological Institution in
1825. In consideration of a large donation by Gardner
Colby, of Massachusetts, the name of Waterville College
was changed to Colby University. A member of the
first graduating class in 1820 was George Dana Board-
man, the famous missionary to the Karens.
The early interest in education among the Baptists of
the Charleston Association has already been referred to.
After the organization of the Convention in 1821 earnest
attention was given to the establishment of a seminary of
learning. The address to the denomination by the newly
organized Convention, prepared by Richard Furman, em-
phasized the importance of ministerial education and de-
fended it against the objections that existed in the minds
of a large proportion of South Carolina Baptists. The
matter was discussed even more fully in the address of the
next year (1822), written by Dr. W. B. Johnson. It was
a cherished desire of the South Carolina Baptist leaders
Chap, ii.] EDUCATIOX IX SOUTH CAROLINA. 407
that a college should be founded in common by the Bap-
tists of their own State and those of Georgia, and negotia-
tions with the Georgia Convention, that seemed for a while
likely to result in favorable action, were conducted (1824—
26) ; but State feeling proved an insuperable obstacle.
Valuable work had been done for a number of years in
ministerial education by Dr. John M. Roberts, pastor of
the High Hills of Santee church. He gave gratuitous
instruction to beneficiaries of the Education Fund of the
Charleston Association, and to others, both before and
after the organization of the Convention. In 1826 the
Furman Academy and Theological Institution was estab-
lished by the Convention, at Edgefield, with J. A. Warne
as principal. The General Committee of the Charleston
Association cooperated heartily with the Convention and
transferred to the institution at Edgefield the librar\' that
had been collected for the use of students for the ministry.
The new enterprise proved a comparative failure. After
two years the principal resigned, the classical department
was abandoned, and the work of theological instruction
was intrusted to J. Hartwell, at the High Hills. The
Convention of 1829 appointed Hartwell principal of the
Furman Theological Institution, and in 1830 associated
with him Samuel Furman, a son of the Charleston pastor.
A building was erected, a large number of students gath-
ered, and success seemed assured. But difficulties arose,
and in 1834 the professors resigned and the work was
suspended. The next experiment was made in Fairfield
district (1835), and combined manual labor with theologi-
cal and classical instruction. W. E. Bailey, who had been
professor in Charleston College, accepted the principalship,
buildings were again erected, and success again seemed
assured. Conflagration (1837) blasted the budding hopes
of the denomination. The principal resigned in 1838 and
40 8 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
work was suspended in 1840. Theological instruction was
resumed in 1838 under Dr. Hooper, who had resigned a
chair in the University of North Carolina. J. S. Maginnis,
afterward prominently connected with educational work
at Hamilton and at Rochester, was soon afterward called
to his assistance. Both of these resigned before the close
of 1839, the former accepting a position in the South
Carolina College. They were succeeded by J. L. Rey-
nolds and Jeremiah Chaplin, Jr. The latter resigned after
a short period of service and became well known in New
England as pastor and author. The former was to be for
many years prominently connected with the educational
work of South Carolina. The institution did not develop
into Furman University until 185 i.
New York State had been settled very rapidly since the
beginning of the Revolutionary War. Baptist churches
had multiplied through immigration from New England
and through great revivals. By 181 7 there were in the
State about 28,000 Baptist church-members, 310 churches,
and only 230 ministers of all shades of efficiency and in-
efficiency. West of the Hudson there were only three
Baptist ministers that had enjoyed the advantages of a
collegiate training, and the great mass of the ministers
were illiterate. Daniel Hascall, of Hamilton, began early
to plan for the removal of this great obstacle to denomi-
national progress. In 18 16 he received a visit from Na-
thaniel Kendrick, then of Vermont, and discussed with
him the question of providing educational facilities for the
growing denomination. Kendrick settled in the neighbor-
hood the next year, and afterward became one of the chief
factors in the solution of the problem. In May, 181 7, just
as the importance of denominational education was being
impressed upon the Triennial Convention by Furman and
others, five or six brethren met at the house of Deacon
Chap, ii.] ED UC ATI OX IX XEIV YORK. 409
Samuel Payne, in Hamilton, to converse, pray, and plan
for the beginning- of educational work. The result was
that a call was issued for a meeting to be held in Hamilton
in the following September. Thirteen leading brethren
met and organized the Baptist Education Society of the
State of New York. During the first year one student,
Jonathan Wade, was assisted to the extent of $27,121/.
During the next year Eugenio Kincaid, afterward to be-
come a devoted missionary, was added. These brethren
enjoyed private instruction only.
Earnest but not very successful efforts were made to
raise funds for the opening of a college. A charter was
secured at the session of the legislature for 181 8-19, and
it was decided to open a school in Hamilton on the prom-
ise that $6000 should be raised in the vicinity. The board
was ready to open a school in 1820. Vain efforts were
made to secure great men from a distance for the prin-
cipalship, and they had to be content with the services of
Daniel Hascall, the moving spirit in the enterprise. He
was assisted by Zenas Morse ; and Nathaniel Kendrick,
while retaining his pastorate at Eaton, gave courses of
lectures. In 1822 a regular class in divinity was organ-
ized, with Kendrick for instructor. During these early
years Baptists in Vermont and Connecticut cooperated to
a considerable extent in the maintenance and patronage
of the institution. An education society formed by the
Baptists of New York City and vicinity in 181 7 began to
cooperate with the Hamilton society in 1822. The insti-
tution gained steadily in popular favor, buildings were
erected, and in 1828 the faculty was enlarged by the ap-
pointment of S. S. Whitman and Barnas Sears, the latter
to become a denominational leader. In 183 1 A. C. Ken-
drick, still among us in venerable age and universally be-
loved and honored, became a tutor in the institution.
410 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
Further additions to the faculty and extensions of the
course were made in 1833 and in 1834, and the institution
took its place among the best hterary and theological
schools in the country, a position which it has well sus-
tained. Not until 1839 were the doors of the institution
thrown open to students of good moral character not having
the ministry in view. The idea of ministerial education
long continued to dominate the policy of the institution.
Under the impulse of the new awakening of the life of
the denomination through the united effort of the denomi-
nation in foreign mission work, the aspirations of leading
Georgia Baptists after local educational facilities, thwarted
in the earlier time, were to have a noble fulfillment.
Through the influence of Jesse Mercer, himself one of
the largest contributors, about $20,000 were given by
Georgia Baptists toward the establishment of Columbian
College before the inauguration of the final efl'orts that
resulted in the founding of Mercer University. In 1827
a recommendation of the executive committee of the Gen-
eral Association (Convention) was adopted " that each
member of this body, and several ministering brethren
within our bounds, be requested to use their exertions to
advance this object [the raising of a fund for theological
education] by removing prejudices and showing the value
of education to a pious ministry. There are in this State
more than 20,000 members. Is there one of these who
would be deprived of the privilege of giving fifty cents for
so desirable an object?" The ignorance and prejudice
encountered by Mercer, Sherwood, Sanders, Kirkpatrick,
and other noble apostles of enlightenment might well have
discouraged men of less faith and fortitude.
Dr. A. Sherwood, a native of New York, a graduate of
Union College, and an undergraduate of Andover Theo-
logical Seminary, performed services of the utmost value
Chap. II.] EDUCATION IN GEORGIA. 41 I
in awakening interest in education. As pastor of the
Eatonton church and principal of the Eatonton Academy
he trained a number of students for the ministry, gi\'ing
them private instruction in theology. Among his pupils
were Jesse H. Campbell, the noted historian of the Georgia
Baptists, and J. R. Hand, a useful minister. The " Chris-
tian Index," in the hands of Jesse Mercer, was an impor-
tant enlightening agency. It set forth in no measured
terms the unreasonableness and irreligion of opposition to
missions and education, and multiplied the friends of prog-
ress. The opponents of education laid stress on the argu-
ment from inspiration. If God inspired his servants in the
olden tiiire, why not now? They claimed that men called
of God were qualified by the Holy Spirit, apart from any
human agency, and that they received directly from God
the message he would ha\e them deliver. Mercer, in the
"Christian Index" (1834), thus answers this argument:
" The argument drawn from the gifts and promises of God
to inspired men in favor of the advantages of ministers now
is, in our judgment, a very deceptive one, because the anal-
ogy is not true. Will any man pretend that ministers are
now inspired, so that their sermons may, with equal pro-
priety, be styled inspired sermons ? If so, then the Script-
ures are not the only rule of faith and practice, but these
sermons have equal claim."
At the Convention of 1829 it was announced that Josiah
Penfield had left a legacy of $2500 as a fund for education,
on the condition that a like sum be raised. The amount
was subscribed on the spot. The names of the donors and
the amounts subscribed have been preserved. Mercer led
off with $250, Cullen Battle followed with $200, and many
whose names are still fragrant among Georgia Baptists con-
tributed each according to his means. In 1832, additional
funds having been raised for the purpose, a tract of land
412 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
was purchased in Green County and a manual-labor school
was opened, with B. M. Sanders, a college graduate, a min-
ister, and a practical farmer, as its head. The school was
styled Mercer Institute, in honor of the great advocate
and promoter of education ; and the village which grew
up on the lands purchased was named Penfield, in honor
of him whose legacy made the institution a possibility.
But such a school could not long satisfy the educational
aspirations of the denomination. Stimulated by the suc-
cessful efforts of the Presbyterians to found a college,
Mercer suggested that efforts be made to secure funds for
the founding of a university at W'ashington, Ga., his home.
The suggestion " took like wild-fire," to use his own lan-
guage. Agents were put in the field in 1837. and were
soon able to report $100,000 subscribed for " The South-
ern Baptist College," as the institution was somewhat
ambitiously named in the charter that had been secured.
A financial crisis soon afterward greatly impaired the sub-
scription list and led to a surrender of the charter. But
the interest aroused had been too great to allow of much
delay. In the same year a new charter was secured for
Mercer University, and a transfer of many of the subscrip-
tions to the more ambitious enterprise was made for the
development of the institute at Penfield into a college. A
faculty, with Sanders as president and Sherwood as theo-
logical professor, was appointed in 1838 and classes were
organized early in 1839. Among the tutors appointed at
this time was S. P. Sanford, who, after teaching for more
than fifty years and winning the hearts of multitudes of
students, is spending an honored old age as emeritus pro-
fessor. The board was able to report $50,000 of interest-
bearing funds and a somewhat larger amount in good sub-
scriptions. Mercer gave largely toward this amount and
bequeathed to the institution enough to bring his gifts to
Chap. II.] ILLINOIS AND NORTH CAROLINA. 413
about $40,000. Thus the institution started upon its
noble career well endowed, according to the standards of
the time.
The Georgia Convention was by no means indifferent to
the religious instruction of the colored people. In 1835 it
was resolved " that we recommend to all our brethren a
due consideration of the best method of affording religious
instruction to the black population among us ; and that
such facilities be afforded for this instruction as in their
best judgment may be deemed most expedient." Further
steps were taken in the same direction in 1839.
In 1832 the seminary that had been founded at Rock
Spring, 111., by John M. Peck was removed to Upper
Alton, then looked upon as a town of great promise.
Seven friends of education became responsible for $1675
as a founding fund for " a college to be under the super-
vision of Baptists." These seven, together with James
Lemen and J. M. Peck, constituted the first board of trus-
tees. Land was purchased, and with the aid of further
donations from the citizens buildings were erected. A
college charter was secured in 1835. The school opened
with an attendance of twenty- five, under the direction of
Hubbell Loomis and Lewis Colby. In consideration of a
gift of $10,000 from Benjamin Shurtleff the college adopted
his name. Adiel Sherwood, who had contributed so much
toward the success of the educational movement in Georgia,
was president from 1841 to 1846. A theological depart-
ment was added at a later date, and both departments have
been vigorously maintained.
Soon after its organization the North Carolina State
Convention inaugurated practical measures for supplying
the denomination with educational facilities. In 1832 the
Convention purchased a large farm in Wake County and
in 1834 opened a manual-labor school styled the Wake
414 THE BAPriSTS. |,l'hK. iii.
Forest Institute. Samuel Wait was the first principal and
John Armstrong; was his chief colleague. Before the close
of the first year seventy students had been enrolled, and
the next year powerful levivals blessed the school and en-
deared it to the denomination. In 1839 a college charter
was procured, not without considerable difficulty. By
1 86 1 the college had an invested endowment of $85,000
and bonds worth $30,000. Most of this was swept away
by the Civil War.
The Baptists of Virginia were slow to attempt educa-
tional work. The matter was often discussed during the
later years of the last century and tlie early years of the
present, and committees were sometimes appointed to plan
and report; but denominational apathy was too great for
anything more practical. Virginia shared largely in the
educational enthusiasm aroused by Luther Rice and others,
and took a deep interest in the founding and sustaining of
Columbian College. The fact that this institution was so
near at hand and w^as thought by many of the leaders of
the denomination to furnish ample facilities for the Baptists
of Virginia was the chief reason for the long delay in
founding a college in the State.
By 1830 many had come to feel that something more
was needed for supplying the churches with an educated
ministry. Only a small proportion of those who felt them-
selves called to the ministry could or would gain the prep-
aration necessary to enable them to avail themselves of the
literary advantages offered by Columbian College, and its
theological work had been abandoned. A home institution
in which young men and men of maturer years could be
encouraged to begin and carry forward their preparation
for the ministry was urgently needed. In 1830 the Vir-
ginia Baptist Education Society was organized by a num-
ber of brethren \\\\o had been called tosjether " for devising
Chap, n.] EDUCATIOX IN VIRGINIA. 415
and proposing some plan for the improvement of young
men who, in tlie judgment of their churches, are called to
the work of the ministry." John Kerr was appointed
chairman and James B. Taylor secretary. The committee
appointed " to draw up a plan and report " consisted of
W. F. Broaddus, J. B. Jeter, H. Keeling, and J. B. Taylor.
These were all highly honored brethren, and several of
them attained to national eminence. The report recom-
mends the formation of a society for assisting young men,
but not the immediate establishment of a seminary of learn-
ing. The interest of the denomination in Columbian Col-
lege and the obligation to aid in sustaining it are recog-
nized. The plan proposed is the more primitive one of
placing beneficiaries " in the families of experienced min-
istering brethren, whose education, libraries, and oppor-
tunities to give useful instruction may enable them to
render essential service to their younger brethren." It
was thought that the arrangement could be made largely
self-supporting by having the students labor in the adjacent
country. But so primitive an arrangement as this would
not long satisfy Virginia Baptists, now becoming conscious
of their strength and aware of the value of an educated
ministry, especially as their brethren in neighboring States
were enjoying the advantages of institutions of their own.
Two years later Virginia Baptists must needs make the
oft-repeated and never permanently successful experiment
of a manual-labor school. A farm was purchased in the
neighborhood of Richmond, and Robert Ryland, a gradu-
ate of Columbian, was appointed principal. Ryland was
opposed to the founding of any school at the time and still
more to the manual-labor experiment; but the wishes of
his brethren overcame his reluctance and he entered with
energy upon the undertaking. Ryland knew far more
about Latin, Greek, mathematics, and theology than about
41 6 THE BAPTISTS. [I'kk. hi.
agriculture. He killed a field of corn by depositing a
handful of salt at the roots of each stalk ; yet he made
$300 for the institution by selling ice. He found a strong
tendency among the students toward phonetic spelling,
and it was with the greatest difficulty that he could bring
them to adopt the current orthography. The salaries of
the teachers depended on the amount collected from a few
"pay students," as the denomination responded meagerly
to appeals for help. " What we lacked in pay we made
up in work," wrote the venerable Ryland long afterward.
" Without any concert or design, we fell into the long-
established custom of the world — that, as the duties of an
office become heavy, its emoluments are light, and vice
versa.'' In 1834 the farm was sold and a beautiful prop-
erty in the suburbs of Richmond purchased for $12,000.
The manual-labor feature was still retained, but the accom-
modations and equipment were greatly improved and the
school grew in popular favor. A college charter was se-
cured in 1840, but full college work was not attempted till
about five years later. The first class was graduated in
1849. By the beginning of the Civil War the college was
well equipped with buildings and other appliances, and had
a faculty of six professors and one tutor and an endowment
of $100,000. The college was almost wrecked by the war,
but soon recovered itself and is ncnv one of the best insti-
tutions of the kind in the South.
The Baptists of Ohio entered early upon educational
work. A manual-labor school was established in 1832
near Granville, under the name " Granville Literary and
Theological Institution." John Pratt was the first prin-
cipal. He was succeeded in 1837 by Jonathan Going,
famous as one of the founders of the Home Mi-ssion So-
ciety. In 1845 the institution assumed the dignity of a
college. Granville College became Denison University in
Chap. II.] IXDLIXA AXD KEXTCCKY COLLEGES. 417
1856 in honor of a benefactor. The career of the univer-
sity has been in every way a highly useful and honorable
one.
An education society was organized by Indiana Bap-
tists in 1835, ^'"i^ ii'' 1836 a manual-labor school was
opened in the neighborhood of Franklin under A. T. Til-
ton, who was succeeded by W. J. Robinson. In 1844 the
institution became Franklin College, and G. C. Chandler,
a man of remarkable energy and perseverance, was its
first president. With inadequate equipment and endow-
ment the institution has gone steadily forward and has
done admirable work in Christian education.
Baptists in Kentucky early realized the importance of
denominational education. A charter was secured for
Georgetown College in 1829, and Dr. W. Staughton, who
had some time before resigned the presidency of Colum-
bian College, was elected to the head of the new institution.
His death occurred before he could enter upon his work.
The college became a bone of contention between the
Baptists and the Disciples, who about this time seceded
in large numbers from the Baptist churches of Kentucky.
Under the presidency of Rockwood Giddings (1838-40)
peaceable possession of the institution and a subscribed
endowment of about $80,000 were secured. Under How-
ard Malcom (1840-50) the college took rank among the
leading institutions of its kind. The Western Baptist
Theological Institute, located at Covington, Ky., was char-
tered in 1840. A considerable endowment was raised,
buildings were erected, an able faculty, including E. G.
Robinson, was secured, and valuable work was accom-
plished. The board was composed partly of Northern
and partly of Southern Baptists. The institute was
wrecked by the agitation of the slavery question. In
1853 the property was divided between the Northern and
4i8 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. m.
Southern factions. The former attempted to estabHsh the
Fairmount Theological Seminary in the suburbs of Cincin-
nati, the latter applied its proportion of the funds (about
$48,000) to the support of a theological department in
Georgetown College.
It is not intended in the present chapter to make men-
tion of institutions that were founded later than 1 845. The
educational idea, once thoroughly energetic, was sure to
embody itself wherever a favorable opportunity should
occur; and as the State unit in denominational affairs has
had a controlling influence, each State was likely sooner
or later to have one or more seminaries of learning. There
are exceptions which can easily be explained, but the rule
has been, " every State its own Baptist college.''
CHAPTER III.
THE TRIENNIAL CONVENTION, Continued.
The home mission idea that had pressed itself with
such emphasis on the General Convention as to lead to a
change in its constitution and in the designation of its
board in 1817, but the realization of which subsequent
events led the Convention to leave to other agencies, was
sure to reassert itself at an early date. The spiritual des-
titution of the great West, with its rapidly increasing
population and its magnificent prospects, could not long
fail to compel united action on the part of a great and grow-
ing denomination. Judson himself, the pioneer American
foreign missionary, urged upon American Baptists the
importance of evangelizing the aborigines, and the spirit
of foreign missions could hardly fail to emphasize the
necessity of well-directed and persistent effort on behalf
of this long- neglected class.
In 183 1 Dr. Jonathan Going, of Worcester, Mass., re-
turned from an extended prospecting tour full of enthu-
siasm for Western missions. Under his influence the
Massachusetts Missionary Society adopted a resolution
(November, 183 1) declaring that the Baptists of the
United States ought to form a general society for mission
work in America, especially in the Mississippi Valley. The
conviction was also expressed that Dr. Going ought to re-
linquish his pastoral charge and devote himself to arousing
interest in this work. A committee composed of Drs. D.
419
420 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
Sharp and L. Bolles, both leading advocates of the foreign
mission cause, was appointed to \-isit New York and confer
with members of the New York Baptist Missionary Con-
vention and others with reference to the formation of a
general home mission society. Philadelphia was also vis-
ited in this interest. The proposal met with fa\"or. These
conferences resulted in the appointment of a Provisional
Committee, with Dr. A. Maclay, of New York, as chair-
man. Dr. Going as corresponding secretary, William Col-
gate as treasurer, and Dr. William R. W^illiams as recording
secretary. A meeting was called for the formal organiza-
tion of the society, to be held in New York on April 2"] ,
1832. The time and place were those that had been fixed
upon for the Triennial Convention and insured a large
attendance. The constitution that had been prepared
was adopted with slight changes, the Hon. Heman Lin-
coln, of Massachusetts, was appointed president, a large
number of the most influential ministers and la3'men, rep-
resenting all parts of the countr}', were made vice-presi-
dents and directors, and the officers of the Provisional
Committee were reappointed.
The American Baptist Home Mission Society thus en-
tered upon its career with the fullest and heartiest support
of the denomination at large and with every promise of the
highest usefulness. The society was peculiarly fortunate
in having for its first secretary one of the most remarkable
men of his time. Jonathan Going is characterized by one
of his contemporaries as " a \ast, walking, magnetic ma-
chine, at every step giving ofi" sparks through every pore
of his skin, through every hair of his head, through e\"ery
muscle of his face." " As for his eyes and tongue," he
continues, " I can never describe them. . . . To come oc-
casionally under the shadow of a man like Jonathan Going
is worth more than to sit whole ages under the formal in-
Chap, hi.] HOME MISSIOXS. 42 1
struction of other men. Such contact would draw more
electricity, impart a higher inspiration, give a more mighty
and enduring impulse." His executive ability was spoken
of in the highest terms, and he had long been noted for his
skill in settling church difficulties. A graduate of Brown
(1809), his scholarship was far in advance of that of most
of the denominational leaders of the time. He had been
among the foremost promoters of theological education
and had had much to do with the establishment of New-
ton Theological Institution. " More education in the min-
istry was eternally his theme." He had been among the
earliest and most zealous advocates of Sunday-schools.
Foreign missions also had thoroughly enlisted his sym-
pathies and his endeavors. In a word, he was the very
incarnation of the progressive spirit of the denomination.
The importance to the denomination of having such a
leader at such a time was inestimable. He had found the
Baptists in the West seriously divided in doctrine. " Gill-
ites, Fulleritcs, Parkerites, Campbellites, and Stonites "
were at variance with one another and greatly hindering
the advance of the denomination and the evangelization
of destitute regions. He was convinced that " a mighty
effort must be made, . . . and made soon, or ignorance
and heresy and infidelity will intrench themselves too
strongly to be repulsed. And in that case it is morally
certain that our republic will be overturned and our insti-
tutions, civil and religious, will be demolished." " As
Baptists," he insisted, "we have a deep interest in the
work of Western reform ; as friends of our common Chris-
tianity we are bound to propagate it among the destitute ;
while as Baptists we should be solicitous that the ordi-
nances of the gospel, in their primitive form and beauty,
should be established at an early period in the important
valley of the West ; and it is known that the larger pro-
42 2 THE BAPTIsrs. [Per. hi.
portion of the people are destitute of the means of sal-
vation, while probably a thousand Baptist churches are
without preaching every Sabbath." For five years he
labored with remarkable zeal and success in enlisting the
cooperation of State missionary societies, Conventions, As-
sociations, churches, and benevolent individuals, and in
securing educated, consecrated, and efficient ministers for
the West.
During the first year 50 missionaries were employed for
longer or shorter periods — 6 in New York, 12 in Ohio, 5
in Indiana, 3 in Michigan, 9 in Illinois, 7 in Missouri, 2 in
New Jersey, and i each in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ten-
nessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Lower Canada. In the
second year 80 missionaries were engaged and Upper
Canada and Louisiana were added to the fields. The
third year shows an increase of missionaries to 96. By
1836 the annual receipts of the society had risen to
$16,910.85.
The officers of the society were from the beginning fully
alive to the importance of establishing vigorous churches
in growing towns. Many of the city churches that have
become centers of beneficent influence owe their origin or
their rapid growth to the activity of the society. Among
the mission fields of the first five years were St. Louis,
Chicago, New Orleans, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Louisville,
Columbus, O., Nashville, and Milwaukee. In Upper Can-
ada, Brantford and Toronto, now important Baptist centers,
recei\"ed the attention of. the society.
Interesting accounts of the self-sacrificing and abundant
labors of tfie missionaries might be given. It is doubtful
whether any agency employed by the Baptists of the
United States has been so extensively beneficent as the
American Baptist Home Mission Society. Its motto,
" North America for Christ," it has constantly and sue-
Chap. in. J RELIGIOUS XEWSPAPERS. 423
cessfully aimed to realize. In 1837 John M. Peck, the
pioneer home missionary in IlHnois and Missouri, could
write : " The time was when not another man besides my-
self and colleague, Brother J. E. Welch, in the two States,
of any denomination, could be found to take a bold and
active stand in any of the benevolent moA'ements of the
age. Now I can count up zealous, active laborers and
successful men by scores."
The operations of the society did not increase largely
between 1836 and 1845. Only once between these dates
did the receipts exceed those of the earlier date, and the
receipts of the latter year were only $18,675.68; yet by
reason of the development of the aggressive missionary
spirit on the fields cultivated, the work accomplished far
more than kept pace with the receipts.
Mention has already been made of the dearth of de-
nominational literature at the beginning of this period and
of the efforts of Luther Rice and others to help forward
the missionary and educational v/ork of the General Con-
vention by the publication of the " Latter Day Luminary "
and the " Columbian Star." The supply of periodical
literature was soon to become superabundant through
private enterprise. There are so many people that think
themselves capable of editing a paper, and it is so easy to
figure out on paper a paying subscription list and a net
profit from advertisements, that experiments without num-
ber were sure to be made. A few of those established
before 1845, in some cases with change of name, have
survived and have constantly increased in influence.
"The Watchman," begun in 1819 as "The Christian
Watchman," came into increased prominence (1838-48)
under William Crowell, was successfully conducted for
many years by J. W. Olmstead, assisted by L. E. Smith
and others, absorbed "The Christian Reflector" (1848)
424 ^'^^' BAPTISTS. [Tkr. hi.
and "The Christian Era" (1875), and, under G. E. Horr,
still flourishes. " The Examiner " furnishes a remarkable
case of newspaper evolution. It represents all that is left
of some seven papers. " The New York Baptist Register,"
founded at Utica about 1824, having absorbed in 1825 a
missionary quarterly begun in 1814 or earlier, was in 1855
amalgamated with " The New York Recorder," an out-
growth (1845) of "The Baptist Advocate" (1839), which
had absorbed "The Gospel Witness" (begun in 1835).
S. S. Cutting and M. B. Anderson, as editors of " The
Recorder," had given to that paper a leading place among
religious journals. "The Recorder and Register" was
purchased by Edward Bright and S. S. Cutting in 1855,
when its name was changed to "The Examiner." In
1849 "The New York Chronicle" had been started by
O. B. Judd, and in 1855 it was edited and controlled by
J. S. Backus and Pharcellus Church. In 1863 Dr. Church
became sole proprietor and purchased, besides, " The
Christian Chronicle," of Philadelphia, edited by J. S.
Dickerson. In 1865 "The Chronicle" was united with
" The Examiner." Under Edward Bright " The Examiner
and Chronicle " (afterward shortened to " The Examiner ")
attained to the leading position in Baptist journalism.
Lately (1894) "The National Baptist," of Philadelphia,
was purchased by " The Examiner," and its able editor,
H. L. Wayland, made a member of the staft'. On the
death of Dr. Bright (June, 1894), Henry C. Vedder, one
of the most accomplished religious journalists of the time,
succeeded to the editorial control of the paper, having
been since 1876 one of its chief editorial writers. "The
Religious Herald," begun in 1828 by William Sands, a
practical printer, has had a continuous and highly honor-
able existence to the present time. Under the editorial
direction of D. Shaver (1857 onward) it became one of
CuAi'. 111.] XElVSrAFEKS AXD REVIEWS. 425
the most influential papers in the South. Under J. B.
Jeter and A. E. Dickinson (1865 cnward) its position was
still further strengthened. Dr. Jeter was one of the ablest
Baptists the South has possessed, and Dr. Dickinson is
still one of the most versatile and influential of editors.
With him is worthily associated at present Dr. \V. E.
Hatcher. Other papers whose publication was begun be-
fore 1845 and which have survived are : " The Western Re-
corder " (1835), ably edited at present by T. T. Eaton, and
representing the Baptist conservatism of the South ; " The
Journal and Messenger," of Cincinnati, begun in 1831 as
"The Baptist Weekly Journal," and united with "The
Christian Messenger" in 185 i, has been successfully con-
ducted by G. W. Lasher since 1876; "The Baptist," of
Tennessee (1835), edited for many years (1846 onward)
by J. R. Graves, and the leading exponent of " Old-Land-
markism " ; " Zion's Advocate" (1828), the organ of the
Bapti.sts of Maine, ably conducted since 1873 by Henry S.
Burrage, noted as historical scholar and author; "The
Christian Secretary," of Connecticut (1822), ably edited
for many years by S. D. Phelps. " The Columbian Star"
(1822), founded by Luther Rice as the organ of the schemes
of the Convention, edited in Philadelphia (1826-28) by
W. T. Brantly as " The Columbian Star " and " The Chris-
tian Index," purchased by Jesse Mercer and transferred to
Georgia in 1833, presented by him to the Georgia Baptist
Convention in 1840, has from the beginning had a highly
useful career. Its most brilliant editor was the late Henry
Holcombe Tucker, one of the ablest educators and most
eloquent preachers that the South has produced.
The need of a denominational review early came to be
felt, and in 1836 "The Christian Review" was started as
a quarterly, with J. D. Knowles as editor. He was suc-
ceeded by Barnas Sears. Among the later noted editors
426 THE BAPTISTS. [I'kk. hi.
were S. S. Cutting, G. B. Taylor, and E. G. Robinson.
" The Review " was discontinued in 1863. The American
Baptist Publication Society issued an able quarterly (1867-
T']), edited at first by L. E. Smith and afterward by
President H. G. Weston. Under the name " The Bap-
tist Quarterly Review" J. R. Baumes attempted to supply
the denominational need from 1878 to 1885, when he sold
it to a company in New York, who changed its name to
" The Baptist Quarterly " and published it until 1892, with
R. S. MacArthur and H. C. Vedder as editors. " The Bap-
tist Memorial and Monthly Chronicle," edited at first by
R. Babcock and J. O. Choules, and afterward by Enoch
Hutchinson, was published in New York from 1842 to
1850. It was a publication of much merit and contains a
vast amount of valuable historical matter.
While religious journalism might saf 1}- be left to indi-
vidual enterprise, there were other kinds of publication that
called loudly for united denominational effort. The need
of religious tracts free from bias against Baptist teaching
and inculcating Baptist principles came to be keenly felt
early in the present period. A number of tract societies
had been formed by Congregationalists, Episcopalians, and
others, and the Methodists were reaping rich ad\'antages
from their well-established and energetically conducted
Book Concern. The suggestion that led to the formation
of a Baptist tract society seems to have come from Noah
Davis, a zealous young minister who had studied under
Staughton and Chase in Philadelphia and afterward in
Cokunbian College. In February, 1824, he addressed a
communication to J. D. Knowles, then editor of " The
Columbian Star," which led to the calling of a meeting
and the organization of the Baptist General Tract So-
ciety, with its headquarters at Washington. " I have
been thinking for some time," he wrote, " how a tract so-
Chap, hi.] BAPTIST TRACT SOCIETY. 427
ciety can be got up in Washington which shall hold the
same place among the Baptists that the American Tract
Society does among the Congregationalists. I feel \ery
much the necessity of having tracts to scatter in the waste
places. It is a plan of doing good but little known among
Baptists." That it should be located in Washington rather
than in a great publishing center like Philadelphia was
in accord with the design of Rice and others to make
the national capital the center of denominational activity.
After due announcement in "The Columbian Star," a
meeting was held on February 20th for the formation of
the society. Dr. Staughton presided, and a constitution
drafted by Knowles was amended and adopted. The or-
ganization was styled the Baptist General Tract Society,
and provision was made for the publication and distribu-
tion of tracts, the appointment of subordinate agents, the
establishment of depositories, and the formation of auxil-
iary societies. O. B. Brown v/as appointed president,
George Wood agent, and Luther Rice, already over-
whelmed with responsibilities, treasurer. The society at
once received the cordial support of the leaders of the de-
nomination North and South, and beginning in a very
small way soon extended its operations so as to become
one of the most important and successful of our denomina-
tional enterprises. The receipts, which were for the first
year $373.80, amounted to $20,803.78 for the year end-
ing in April, 1845. As early as 1826, owing to great in-
convenience and loss from being at a distance from a pub-
lishing and distributing center, the society removed its
headquarters to Philadelphia. The complications that had
arisen in connection with Columbian College doubtless
facilitated the transfer. In 1840 a revised constitution
was adopted and the name of the society changed to the
American Baptist Publication Society. Besides publish-
428 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
ing a large number of valuable tracts, the society issued
popular periodicals anci publishetl a number of denomina-
tional books. Its missionary work, accomplished through
colporteurs, who have traversed the length and breadth
of the land distributing literature, preaching in destitute
places, establishing Sunday-schools, etc., has been abun-
dant and effective. Sunday-school work is distinctly rec-
ognized in the new constitution and has since 1840 been
pushed with great vigor. The society is said to have been
the first in America to engage in colportage.
The American Bible Society, formed in 1816, was an
undenominational institution, in which Baptists freely
joined. Before 1836 they had contributed more than
$170,000 to its funds, and when Judson's Burmese New
Testament was completed in 1832 and his complete Bur-
mese Bible in 1834, the board of the Triennial Convention
asked for and received appropriations toward printing and
circulating these versions. The total amount received was
$19,700. In 1833 the board of the Triennial Convention
had passed the following resolution : " That all missionaries
of the board who are, or shall be, engaged in translating
the Scriptures, be instructed to endeavor, by earnest prayer
and diligent study, to ascertain the precise meaning of the
original text, to express that meaning as exactly as the
nature of the languages into which they translate the Bible
will permit, and to transfer no \vords which are capable of
being literally translated." Wltii this position Judson was
in complete accord. In 1835 application was made to the
American Bible Society for funds to aid in printing the
Bengali Scriptures prepared by English Baptist mission-
aries on the principle adopted by the American Baptist
board. It was stated in the application that the words
"baptize" and " baptism " had been rendered bywords
meaning " immerse " and " immersion," and that the Bible
CiiAi'. iiJ.] BAPTISTS PROTEST. 429
Society at Calcutta had on this account refused to aid in
its circulation. The application was referred to a commit-
tee of seven, one for each leading denomination. The
Baptist member seems to have been alone in insisting that
the grant be made, or that it be not refused on the ground
of the rendering instead of the transference of the words
mentioned. In February, 1836, after prolonged discus-
sion, the board of managers of the American Bible Society
passed the following resolution by a vote of thirty to four-
teen : " That in appropriating money for translating, print-
ing, or distributing the Sacred Scriptures in foreign lan-
guages, the managers feel at liberty to encourage only such
versions as conform in the principle of their translation to
the common English version ; at least so far that all the
religious denominations represented in this society can
consistently use and circulate said versions in their several
schools and communities." This action was confirmed in
the fcjllowing May by the society at its annual meeting.
A protest, which the board refused to receive or allow to
be read, was presented by the Baptist meml^ers of the
board of managers. The following extract will give its
purport: "Conscientiously believing that every translator
of the Bible is under a sacred obligation to regard the
original Hebrew and Greek as the only standard, and
neither to misrepresent nor conceal the least portion of
divine truth, but to transmit into his version, with all pos-
sible fidelity, the precise meaning of the inspired text ;
believing, too, that while the constitution of the American
Bible Society proposes to aid in the circulation of the
Scriptures ' in other countries, whether Christian, Mahom-
'medan, or pagan,' it nowhere expresses any purpose of
requiring that the translations into foreign tongues shall
be conformed in principle to the English version ; and,
further, believing that the Baptist denomination, as a con-
430 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
stituent member of the society, and upon the principle of
a fair co-partnership, to which it has brought its full share
of capital and of labor, is entitled to a portion of the ap-
propriations made for distributing the Bible at home and
abroad ; and that the adoption, by the board, of any rule
of action not recognized in the constitution, and tending
to exclude the said denomination from these advantages,
is a violation of the constitutional compact, a virtual dis-
solution of the original firm, and on principles of both law
and equity would oblige the American Bible Society to
refund a proper share of the capital now in their posses-
sion, . . . the undersigned members, as aforesaid, of the
board of managers do hereby protest against the principle
and bearing of the said resolution." The signers then
proceed to give fourteen definite reasons for their action.
The names affixed are Spencer H. Cone, Archibald Mac-
lay, Jonathan Going, Charles G. Somers, William Judd,
William Colgate, Charles C. P. Crosby, William Winter-
ton, Octavius Winslow, Luke Baker, M.D., and Samuel
Barnard. T. R. Green joined in the protest, giving rea-
sons of his own.
It may be observed that the treasury of the society was
"full to overflowing," and the only reason for refusing
funds for the Baptist version in question was the fact that
the Greek words for "baptize" and "baptism" were
rendered literally according to the best pedobaptist lexi-
cographers.
On May 12, 1836, the day after the American Bible
Society approved of the resolution of its board, one hun-
dred and twenty leading Baptists met in the Oliver Street
Baptist Church, of New York, and formed the American
and Foreign Bible Society, the " single object " of which
was declared to be " to promote a wider circulation of the
Holy Scriptures in the most faithful versions that can be
Chap, in.] BIBLE COXTROVERSIES. 431
procured." Obstacles were put in the way of their ob-
taining a charter, and it was not until 1848 that incorpo-
ration was secured. In 1837 " the largest and most intel-
ligent assemblage of Baptist ministers and laymen " that
had ever been held, consisting of three hundred and ninety
delegates from twenty- three States, assembled in Philadel-
phia in this interest. The organization was completed, and
it was resolved " that, under existing circumstances, it is
the indispensable duty of the Baptist denomination to or-
ganize a distinct society for the purpose of aiding in the
translation, printing, and circulation of the Scriptures."
It was further resolved " that the society confine its efforts,
during the ensuing year, to the circulation of the v/ord of
God in foreign tongues." This last resolution was a re-
sult of an unwillingness on the part of some to attempt to
compete with the American Bible Society on the home
field, or to lose the advantages of participating, as a de-
nomination, in the large facilities for Bible publication and
circulation that Baptists had aided in creating. The new
society did a noble work in aiding in the publication of
versions of the Scriptures in Burmah and in India. Di-
vided counsels, however, soon threatened the existence of
the society and the unity and harmony of the denomina-
tion. As its operations were to be confined to aiding
missionaries in publishing their versions, many brethren
could see no reason why the work should not be done by
the Foreign Mission Board, and regarded the maintenance
of a special agency as superfluous. Others insisted on the
application of the principle of faithful versions, with a ren-
dering of the words for " baptize " and " baptism," to Eng-
lish versions, and when a majority of the society had re-
solved (May 25, 1850) " that this society, in its issues and
circulation of the English Scriptures, shall be restricted to
the commonly received version, without note or comment,"
432 THE BAPTISTS. [n.K. iii.
the advocates of " translation " versus " transferring " met
in New York, at the house of William Colgate (May 27,
1850), and organized the American Bible Union, the
object of which was declared to be " procuring and circu-
lating the most faithful versions of the Sacred Scriptures
in all languages."
Thus the American ]3ible Union came at once into the
sharpest rivalry with the American and Foreign Bible So-
ciety, and so far as this question was concerned the de-
nomination was grievously divided. As there will be no
opportunity to revert to this matter, it may be added here
that the Bible Union procured the services of some of the
most eminent scholars in the denomination, notably Drs.
Thomas J. Conant and Horatio B. Hackett, and published
annotated versions of the New Testament books and of
a large number of the Old. These versions are of high
critical merit and ha\'e no doubt been of considerable
value to students; but they failed to supplant the author-
ized version in popular use. The pronounced hostility of
the friends of the American and Foreign Bible Society and
the lack of popular interest in a revised version doubtless
made the work of the Bible Union largely ineffective. On
the other hand, the former society was antagonized by
friends of the Bible Union and those of the Missionary
Union; and its sources of supply were soon largely cut
off. Many had come to feel that the existence of these
two rival and antagonistic societies constituted a serious
obstacle to denominational unity and progress. Negotia-
tions with the American Bible Society were reopened in
1879, but failed to result in any material modification of
the society's previous action. In February, 1882, Dr.
Edward Bright, who had taken a deep interest in the Bible
controversies, and who was deeply concerned for the uni-
fication of the denomination, published a brief article in
Chap, hi.] EXD OF BIBLE CONTROVERSY. 433
" The Examiner," of which he was editor, expressing his
conviction that Baptists could not expect fair treatment
from the American Bible Society, which had ** made itself
the narrowest sort of a pedobaptist institution," and recom-
mending that Baptists " betake themselves, with self-re-
specting dignity and fidelity, to the doing of their own
Bible work through the American Baptist Missionary
Union and the American Baptist Publication Society."
This recommendation was carried out at a great mass-
meeting of the denomination at Saratoga in May, 1883.
The two rival societies, after an ineffective struggle against
overwhelming denominational sentiment, quietly went out
of existence, the Missionary Union assuming entire re-
sponsibility for foreign Bible work and the Publication
Society undertaking to circulate the Bible Union version
as well as the Anglo-American revised version. Thus
was settled one of the most troublesome controversies in
which the denomination was ever involved, and the settle-
ment proved complete.
Reference has already been made to the obstacles pre-
sented to missionary and educational enterprise by igno-
rance and prejudice. The friends of education and missions
in 1 8 14 constituted a small minority of the denomination.
Many Baptists from the beginning actively opposed the
advance movement, and their opposition increased in bit-
terness as the missionary and educational enterprise went
forward. The anti-missionary mo\-ement constitutes the
saddest and most discreditable feature of modern Baptist
history, as the highly successful missionary movement
constitutes one of the chief glories of the denomination.
From 1820 onward the anti-effort Baptists became ag-
gressive and in many cases malignant. The formation of
the State Conventions brought them out into pronounced
hostility to missions, education, Sunday-schools, Bible and
434 '^^^^^ BAPTISTS. [I'lK. 111.
tract societies, and in general to what they were pleased to
style "human institutions." The Conventions organized
to promote these and like agencies for the spread of the
gospel were usually constituted by a few representatives
of a few Associations. It was impossible to induce a ma-
jority of the delegates of most of the Associations to ap-
point delegates for the formation of State organizations.
The persistent efforts of the zealous men who had the cause
of missions and education at heart to extend the sphere of
the influence of the Conventions and to secure associational
action in favor of the enterprises of the denomination
aroused the anti-effort party to almost fanatical opposi-
tion. In many cases where an Association voted to take
up the enterprises of the denomination the minority with-
drew and constituted a new Association. In order to
guard against the encroachment of " human institutions "
upon such new domains the anti-effort Associations in
many instances passed resolutions disfellowshiping any
church that should take any part in missionary or educa-
tional enterprises, and churches of this persuasion made
such action on the part of individual members a matter of
discipline. The Hepzibah Association of Georgia rejected
in 1826 the proposal of two of its churches that messen-
gers be sent to view the order of the General Association
(Convention), and the decorum of the body was so altered
as to make it disorderly for any brother to move for a
correspondence, either by letter or messenger, with any
General Association or Committee, missionary society or
board, and it was made the duty of the moderator to re-
prove any such violation of the decorum. A few speci-
mens of the utterances of individuals and Associations of
the anti-effort party will suffice to illustrate the spirit of
the movement. The passages quoted are mild and deco-
rous in comparison with others that might be given. An
Chap, hi.] ANTI-EFFORT BAPTISTS. 435
Alabama minister wrote : " I have known some preachers
who at first thought all benevolent institutions were wrong
but the Foreign Missions ; and after a while they would
receive another trait of the beast as right, and so on until
they would receive all but the tail (Temperance Societies) ;
and that they would oppose with all their might for awhile,
but finding it was connected with the body, they would
swallow that. I will tell you, my brother, what it makes
me think of: it is just like a snake trying to swallow a
squirrel. It will begin at the head and swallow that first,
and so on until it comes to the tail. Then it tries every
stratagem to get rid of swallowing the tail; but finding it
is connected with the body, it must either vomit all back
or take down the tail, although averse to it; for if they
vomit up the body and head, they will be laughed at for
saying and contending that those things are right." An-
other minister in the same State wrote : " Do not forget
the enemy [missionaries], bear them in mind; the howling
destructive wolves, the ravenous dogs, and the filthy, and
their numerous whelps. By a minute observation and the
consultation of the sacred, never-failing, descriptive chart,
even their physiognomy in dress, mien, and carriage, and
many other indented, indelible, descriptive marks, too
tedious at present to write. The wolfish smell is enough
to alarm, to create su.spicion, and to ascertain; the dogs'
teeth are noted, and the wolves for their peculiar and dis-
tinct howl," etc. Another compared " theological schools
to make preachers" to "the bottomless pit spoken of in
Revelations." "For," he added, "a bottomless pit has
no- foundation in the Scriptures as an institution of God."
A Georgia minister is said to have declared that " if an
angel was to come from heaven and declare the mission-
ary cause was of God, he would not believe it." If it be
true that " he immediately lost his speech, and remained
436 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
in that deplorable situation until he died," as is related on
credible authority, it was no more than such blasphemy
deserved. The following is from a circular letter of one
of the Alabama anti-efTort Associations : " And now for a
moment let us notice the language of some of the votaries
of the new system. They say God complains — my people
perish for lack of knowledge. They also say that if we
urge on the mighty cause of education, Bible and tract
distribution, and through missionary effort, we know that
the millennial day will soon dawn upon the world. They
entreat you to hasten, for if we pause — if we hesitate —
people will perish forever. . . . But again we are told by
some that we need an improved ministry ; or, in other
words, an educated ministry. As to the education we
know no objection, provided it is received before a call to
the ministry, for Paul says, ' Let every man abide in the
same calling wherein he was called.' It is also said that
pious men that are called of God to preach his gospel —
that they, in their ignorance, wall ordain other ignorant
men, and in that way a great deal of harm will be done.
Oh, what an insult to Deity, that men should say that
God has no power to qualify men for the ministry, after
he has called them!" Another Alabama Association de-
clared itself as follows : " We must decline all fellowship
for, or correspondence with, such Associations and profess-
ors of the Baptists, or of any other name, as have departed
from the faith and order of the gospel, or have attempted
to add to the divine decree any of the institutions of human
inventions, of whatever name they may be called. The
w^ant of union where all this variety of sentiment has ex-
isted has been painfully felt by the most of our churches
and Associations, as long as ever they have suffered that
woman Jezebel to hold a place among us. She calls her-
self a prophetess, but her efforts are directed to the pro-
Chap, hi.] OPPOSITION TO MISSIONS. 437
duction of a strange sect, which, whenever brought forth,
causes divisions, trouble, and distress; and because she
claims to be a prophetess, she excites the sympathies of
many pleaders for her. But blessed be the name of our
God, he has interposed his seasonable aid in our behalf,
has cast her ladyship into a bed, and has killed, and, if
we mistake not, is now killing her children with death."
This and the preceding writing were set forth as late as
1838.
Alabama was settled largely from western Georgia,
where Baptists of the more illiberal type abounded. For
this reason the friends of missions had more to contend
with here than in many other communities; but their zeal
triumphed over obstacles, and the missionary cause went
gloriously forward. But throughout the South and the
West, and even in many of the older communities in the
East, the missionary movement, with its adjuncts, was op-
posed with a rancor and a persistence that greatly tried
the faith and the patience of evangelical Baptists.
The most striking instance of the temporary triumph of
the anti-missionary cause is furnished by the history of the
Baptists of Tennessee. At the beginning of the present
period nearly all of the churches w^ere friendly to the
foreign mission cause. Rice made several tours of the
churches and was nearly everywhere well received. He
secured the organization of a State Foreign Mission
Society, and several of the leading Associations became
directly auxiliary to the General Convention. Until after
1820 opposition to missions did not assume an organized
or malignant form. Several circumstances combined to
make the great majority of the Baptists of the State anti-
missionary, so that, in the words of a contemporary, " the
current of prejudice had gradually swollen, until now no
one dared to resist it. Not a man ventured to open his
438 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
mouth in favor of any benevolent enterprise or action.
The missionary societies were dissolved, and the Associa-
tions rescinded all their resolutions by which they were in
any way connected with these measures, and, in this re-
spect, the spirit of death rested upon the whole people!
Subsequently, and until the present time [1845], this state
of things has been kept up, wherever it was possible, by
the same means, and by industriously circulating, in addi-
tion, such papers as ' The Old-Baptist Banner,' of Tennes-
see, 'The Primitive Baptist,' of North Carolina, and 'The
Signs of the Times,' of New York."
A striking illustration of the decline of interest in for-
eign missions under the influences referred to is found in
the foreign mission contributions from Ohio. In 1820
$547.09 were contributed. Nothing was received from
the State from 1821 to 1829, when $10 were contributed.
The contribution for 1830 was $5. In 1821-22 $985.69
were contributed for the Indian mission at Fort Wayne,
but support was entirely withdrawn from this as well as
from the foreign work during the following years. In
1845, of the thirty-four Virginia Associations, twelve, in-
cluding the old Ketokton, were anti-missionary.
This lamentable retrograde movement, which affected
the neighboring States on all sides, may be partially ac-
counted for as follows: i. The general illiteracy of the
population, resulting from the fact that the territory was
newly settled and that the population had been thoroughly
occupied in clearing the land and bringing it into cuhi\'a-
tion. 2. The general pre\alence of a high type of Cal-
vinistic doctrine, tending to the disparagement of human
agency. This in the hands of illiterate but strong-willed
ministers, who felt that their influence would be lost if the
mission cause with its educational adjuncts should triumph,
became a leading ground for opposing missions and edu-
ciiAP. 111.] cjrsEs OF orrosiTiox. 439
cation. 3. The encroachments of the Methodists, the
Cumberland Presbyterians, and the followers of Alexan-
der Campbell, with their Arminian teachings, tended, by
arousing the antagonism of these hyper- Calvinistic Bap-
tists, to drive them to the extremes of antinomianism.
4. The activity of Daniel Parker, whose baleful influence
in opposition to missions far surpassed that of any other
individual. He is thus described by J. M. Peck : " Raised
on the frontiers of Georgia, without education, uncouth in
manners, slovenly in dress, diminutive in person, unpre-
possessing in appearance, with shriveled features and a
small, piercing eye, few men, for a series of years, have
exerted wider influence on the lower and less educated
class of frontier people. With a zeal and enthusiasm
bordering on insanit}-, firmness that amounted to obsti-
nacy, and perseverance that v/ould have done honor to a
good cause, Daniel Parker exerted himself to the utmost
to induce the cliurches within his range to declare non-
fellowship with all Baptists who united with any mission-
ary or other benevolent (or, as he called them, newfangled)
societies. He possessed a mind of singular and original
cast. In doctrine he was an antinomian from the first,
but he could describe the process of conviction and the
joys of conversion, and of dependence on God, with pe-
culiar feeling and effect. . . . He fully believed, and pro-
duced the impression on others, that he spoke by immedi-
ate inspiration. Repeatedly have we heard him when his
mind seemed to rise above its own powers, and he w^ould
discourse for a few moments on the divine attributes, or
some doctrinal subject, with such brilliancy of thought
and force and correctness of language as would astonish
men of education and talents. Then, again, it would
seem as though he was perfectly bewildered in a mist
of abstruse subtleties." That such a man should have
440 THE BAPTISTS. [Tek. hi.
wielded a vast and widespread influence is no more than
might have been expected, especiahy as his teachings
appealed powerfully to the selfish instincts of the class of
men with whom he had to deal. Under such inspiration
the hitherto latent and moderately expressed opposition
to missions, Bible societies, education, tract and temper-
ance societies, Sunday-schools, prayer-meetings, and other
evangelizing agencies was fanned into a fury, not only in
Tennessee and the Southwest, but to a greater or less
extent throughout the country. It may be added that
Parker combined with the fatalistic antinomianism that
was common to the anti-efi'ort party a crude and disgust-
ing type of gnostic dualism. This was embodied in cer-
tain pamphlets published in 1826-29 on the doctrine of
Two Seeds. ^
It is highly probable that, apart from the development
among Baptists of this unevangelical type of Calvinism,
with its bigotry and intolerance, Methodists and Cumber-
land Presbyterians would have made their way in regions
preoccupied by Baptists far more slowly than was actually
the case. A large proportion of the Baptists of the South-
west were so perverse in doctrine and so unamiable in
spirit that milder and more evangelical types of Christian-
ity were imperatively called for, and those who had once
been repelled by the extravagances of so-called Baptists
were more likely to be attracted by non-Baptist parties
than by Baptists of a more evangelical type. It is prob-
able, moreover, that if the Baptists of the Southwest had
been thoroughly evangelical the secession under Alexan-
der Campbell would never have occurred. A contempo-
rary writer, in attempting to account for the prevalence of
1 For an account of Parker's doctrines, and statistical and other informa-
tion about anti-missionary Baptists in general, see vol. i. of the present series,
pp. 45-54- According to Dr. Carroll, Parker was born in Virginia, and not
in Georgia, as stated by Peck in the passage cjuoted above.
Chap, in.]" FR0GI^:ESS XOTIVITIISTANDIXG. 441
anti-missionary sentiment in Tennessee up to 1845, re-
marks: "Some of the prime friends of missions [among
the Baptists] became converts to Mr. Alexander Camp-
bell's system, and joined him. Thus missions became be-
yond measure odious." The spread, if not the rise, of the
Disciples, as a sect, was undoubtedly due far more to the
excrescences that had well-nigh destroyed the life of the
Baptist denomination throughout extended regions than
to anything inherent in the Baptist system; and some of
the erroneous features of the Disciples' system may have
been a result of extreme reaction against the errors of un-
evangelical Baptists.
Notwithstanding the desperate efforts to destroy the
missionary and educational causes, they gained steadily in
popular favor. By 1845 the Board of Foreign Missions
was sustaining I 7 missions (of which 6 were among North
American Indians), 130 stations and out-stations, 109 mis-
sionaries and assistants (of whom 42 were preachers), and
123 native preachers and assistants. There had been or-
ganized 79 churches, which had a membership of more
than 8000. The number of baptisms during the year had
been 2593. The receipts for the year ending April, 1845,
were $82,302.95. This amount had been exceeded only
once, in 1839, when it reached $109,135.21. The mis-
sions of the board, outside of America, were as follows : 3
in Europe (France, Germany and Denmark, and Greece),
1 in West Africa, and 7 in Asia (Burmah, India, Assam,
Siam, and China). The Home Mission Society reported
for the same year cash receipts of $18,675.68 (with $30,-
625.21 reported as raised by State Conventions for similar
work). It employed during the year 99 missionaries in
eighteen States. The Mississippi Valley was " still the
principal theater of its action." In connection with the
society 5 i churches had been constituted during the year
442 THE BAPTISTS. [Pek. hi.
and 32 ministers ordained; 801 had been added to its
churches and stations by baptism; and 145 Sunday-
schools had been estabhshed, with 3910 pupils. During
the same year the American and Foreign Bible Society
received $34,930 and did a large home and foreign work
in Bible publication and distribution. The receipts of the
Publication Society for the same year were $20,803.78,
and it reported a large and beneficent activity.
By 1844 the denomination had reached a membership
in the United States of 720,046, with 9385 churches and
6364 ministers. It will be remembered that in 181 2 the
Baptists of the United States numbered 172,972, and in
1 8 14, the beginning of the present period, about 200,000.
In thirty years the denomination had increased about 360
percent. During this period the population of the United
States had increased from 7,210,969 to 17,227,454, or less
than 140 percent, (census figures for 18 10 and 1840).
CHAPTER IV.
THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION.^
Long before 1844 the slavery question had come to be
agitated in Baptist circles. The Baptists of the South had,
as a body, identified themselves with the institution, and
were prepared not only to practice it, but to defend it with
pen and sword. The sentiment against domestic slavery
grew rapidly at the North, and many Baptists were com-
ing to feel that duty required them not only to protest
against the enslavement of their fellow- men and brethren
in Christ, but to use every practicable means for the over-
throw of an institution which they looked upon as un- Chris-
tian and immoral. Up to 1844 Baptists of the North and
South had heartily cooperated in the Triennial Convention
and in the various general denominational societies that
had gathered around this body. The Southern churches
had contributed their full share toward the funds of these
societies, and many of the ablest leaders in general denom-
inational work were Southern men.
In the winter of 1839-40 the Board of Foreign Missions
passed a resolution asserting the absolute neutrality of the
board on the slavery question. This resolution was reen-
acted in 1843 at the Albany anniversaries. It was inevi-
1 See "Annual Reports of the S. B. C." ; Tiipper, " Dec. of For. Miss." ;
Cuthbert, " R. Fuller"; Broadus, " T- P- Boyce " ; " Bapt. Memorial,"
1845 seq.; Fuller and Wayland, " Letters on Domestic Slavery"; Sampey,
" Southern Bapt. Theol. Sem."; Cathcart ; State denominational histories as
in Bibliography.
443 .
444 "^^^^ BAPTISTS. [Pek. III.
table that at the great public gatherings brethren of strong
antislavery convictions and impulsive temperament should
express their sentiments on this question in such a way as
to offend their Southern brethren, who were highly sensi-
tive to any unfavorable allusion to an institution with which
they and their constituents were so fully identified.
In the Triennial Convention for 1844, Richard Fuller, of
South Carolina, introduced the following resolution, with
the hope of rigorously excluding any allusion to slavery
in the meetings of the body and thus making possible
continued cooperation of North and South: "Whereas,
Some misapprehension exists in certain parts of the coun-
try as to the design or character of this Convention, and
it is most desirable that such misapprehension should be
removed; therefore, Resolved, That this Convention is a
corporation with limited pov. ers, for a specific purpose de-
fined in its constitution; and therefore, that its members
are delegateti to meet solely for the transaction of business
prescribed by the said constitution ; and that cooperation
in this body does not involve nor imply any concert or
sympathy as to any matters foreign from the object des-
ignated as aforesaid." This resolution was seconded by
Spencer H. Cone and supported by William Hague, J. ]3.
Jeter, and others, but was strongly opposed by Nathaniel
Colver, of Massachusetts, who did not wish to be fettered
in respect to any subject. It was finally withdrawn to
make way for the following, which was unanimously
adopted : " Whereas, There exists in various sections of
our country an impression that our present organization
involves the fellowship of the institution of domestic slav-
ery, or of certain associations which are designed to oppose
this institution ; Resolved, That in cooperating together as
members of this Convention in the work of Foreign Mis-
sions, we disclaim all sanction, either express or implied,
CiiAi'. i\.J FULLER AXD WAYLAXD OX SLAJ'EKV. 445
whether of slavery or of antislav^ery, but as indivicUials
we are perfectly free both to express and promote our
own views on these subjects in a Christian manner and
spirit." In the course of the discussion Dr. Fuller, one of
the ablest and most moderate of the Southern leaders, is
said to have remarked that he was himself entirely calm
on the subject of slavery. He had examined it ; he had
felt deeply upon it. He was not convinced that slavery
is a sin personally ; he regarded it as a great evil ; his
brethren at the South did not ; he hoped and prayed that
the time would soon come when it would be done away.
Some time after the Convention of 1844 the Board of
Foreign Missions was said to have procured the resigna-
tion of John Bushyhead, a highly respected Indian Baptist
preacher, on the ground that he was a slave-holder. The
impression commonly prevailed in the South thenceforth
that slave-holders would be rigorously excluded from ap-
pointment as missionaries, agents, or officers of the board.
In 1844 Richard Fuller addressed a communication to
the editor of " The Christian Reflector," in reply to certain
antislavery utterances that had appeared in that journal.
He sought to fortify his position by referring to certain
statements in Wayland's " Elements of Moral Science."
As Wayland was a pronounced, though moderate, anti-
slavery man, such a use of his authority drew forth an ex-
planation of his position. Wayland represented the best
culture, wisdom, and spirit of the Northern Baptists, as did
Fuller those of the Southern Baptists. It was fortunate
that two such men should be led to discuss a question of
so vital importance. It need scarcely be said that both
writers were scrupulously courteous and as conciliatory as
the circumstances would allow. Fuller's attitude toward
this question has already been referred to. Both writers
considered the question on ethical and Scriptural grounds,
446 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
reaching opposite conclusions as to what is allowable for
American Christians of the nineteenth century. It is not
likely that many converts were gained to either side by
this somewhat prolonged discussion, but it is probable that
on both sides the bitterness of feeling aroused by the anti-
slavery agitation was somewhat allayed. These contro-
versial papers were published in a volume early in 1845,
entitled "Letters on Domestic Slavery."
The Alabama State Convention was the first Southern
body to memorialize the Foreign Mission Board with re-
spect to its understood purpose to discriminate against
slave-holders in the making of appointments. The docu-
ment thus begins: " Whereas, The holding of property in
African negro slaves has for some years excited discussion,
as a question of morals, between different portions of the
Baptist denomination united in benevolent enterprise ; and
by a large portion of our brethren is now imputed to the
slave-holders in these Southern and Southwestern States,
as a sin at once grievous, palpable, and disqualifying; i.
Resolved, . . . that when one party to a voluntary com-
pact among Christian brethren is not willing to acknowl-
edge the entire social equality with the other, as to all the
privileges and benefits of the union, nor even to refrain
from impeachment and annoyance, united efforts between
such parties, even in the sacred cause of Christian bene\'-
olence, cease to be agreeable, useful, or proper. 2. Re-
solved, That our duty at this crisis requires us to demand
from the proper authorities in all those bodies to whose
funds we have contributed, or with whom we have in any
way been connected, the distinct, explicit avowal tliat sla\'e-
holders are eligible, and entitled, ecpially with non-slave-
holders, to all the privileges and immunities of their se\ eral
unions; and especially to recei\e any agency, mission, or
other appointment, which may run within the scope of their
CiiAi'. iv.J SOUTIIERX DISSATISFACTIOX. 447
operations or duties." It is insisted that in case the moral
character of an ajjpHcant shall be called in question an ap-
peal shall be allowed to the church of which he is a mem-
ber. No funds are to be forwarded to these societies until
satisfactory answers shall have been received.
The Foreign Mission Board replied in a dignified and
conciliatory way, but refused to recognize the right of any
one, slave-holder or non-slave-holder, to appointment to
positions at the disposal of the board. " In the thirty
years in w^hich the board has existed, no slave-holder, to
our knowledge, has applied to be a missionary. And, as
we send out no domestics or servants, such an event as a
missionary taking slaves with him, were it morally right,
could not, in accordance with all our past arrangements or
present plans, possibly occur. If, however, any one should
offer himself as a missionar)', having slaves, and should in-
sist on retaining them as liis property, we could not ap-
point him. One thing is certain, we can never be a party
to any arrangement which would imply approbation of
slavery."
This decision of the board led to the formal withdrawal
of the various Southern State Conventions and auxiliary
foreign mission societies. At the suggestion of the board
of the Foreign Missionary Society of Virginia, Southern
Baptists were invited to meet in convention at Augusta,
Ga., in May, 1845. I'^ the meantime the national anni-
versaries of the denomination were held at Providence.
The report of a committee appointed by the American
Baptist Home Mission Society the previous year, to take
into consideration the subject of an amicable dissolution of
the society, was the occasion of a prolonged discussion.
President Wayland used his great influence in vain to pre-
vent precipitate action ; but radical antislavery sentiment
on the one hand, and Southern sensitiveness on the other,
448 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
made further cooperation impracticable. The necessity
for division was bewailed by the great majority of the de-
nomination, but it was clearly recognized. A committee,
consisting of Maginnis, Tucker, Wayland, Sears, Webb,
Taylor, and Duncan, reported in fa\-or of an amicable ar-
rangement by which the name ai^d charter of the society
should remain in the hands of the Northern Baptists, and
all claims of contributors should be fairly and equitably
adjusted. This report was adopted.
The Alabama resolutions were considered by the For-
eign Mission Board, and the action of the executive, above
given, was virtually confirmed. The report of a commit-
tee of which President Wayland was chairman, expressing
approval of the action of the executive, was adopted after
much discussion. The report shows the conciliatory dis-
position of the Northern leaders, and their conviction of
the impracticability of yielding to the demands of the
South. It is as follows : "i. The spirit of the constitution
of the General Convention, as well as the history of its
proceedings from the beginning, renders it apparent that
all the members of the Baptist denomination in good stand-
ing, whether at the North or the South, are constitution-
ally eligible to all appointments emanating either from the
Convention or the board. 2. While this is the case, it is
possible that contingencies may arise in which the carrying
out of this principle might create the necessity of making
appointments by which the brethren at the North would
either in fact or in the opinion of the Christian community
become responsible for institutions w^hich they could not,
with a good conscience, sanction. 3. Were such a case
to occur, we would not desire our brethren to violate their
convictions of duty by making such appointments, but
should consider it incumbent on them to refer the case to
the Convention for its decision."
Cu.w: i\.J n/rj.S/0\ IXEVITABLE. 449
Sentiment on both sides being as it was, division was
inevitable. The attempt to cooperate would put such a
restraint upon discussion as to chill the enthusiasm of
brethren at the North, and there were enough rash men on
both sides to insure a certain amount of unpleasantness at
each meeting. Contributions to missions in both sections
were sure to be largely affected by the feeling of uncer-
tainty and by the irritation that would be involved in con-
tinued cooperation. On the other hand, the separation of
North and South in home and foreign work would stimu-
late in the highest degree the activit}' of each. That the
division should have been attended with so little bitterness
was clue to the high type of Christian character represented
by the leaders on both sides. It would be difficult to find
anywhere in ecclesiastical history an abler, wiser, nobler
set of men than those who during these years gathered
from North, South, East, and West, at the national anni-
versaries, to deliberate on the great interests of the de-
nomination. Richard Fuller, Francis Wayland, W. B.
Johnson, Spencer H. Cone, John M. Peck, William Col-
gate, Rufus Babcock, James B. Taylor, Baron Stow, Jesse
H. Campbell, Barnas Sears, Basil Manly, George B. Ide,
Adiel Sherwood, Daniel Sharp, William R. Williams, John
L. Dagg, Jeremiah B. Jeter, Stephen W. Lynd, along with
many others that might be named, formed in 1845 '^ galaxy
cf consecrated and cultivated talent. Many of the leaders
of 1 8 14 had passed away, among them Richard Furman,
Jesse Mercer, Thomas Baldwin, Lucius Bolles, William
Staughton, Luther Rice, Henry Holcombe, Jonathan Go-
ing, and William T. Brantly. Most of these names are still
household words among intelligent Baptists.
Great enthusiasm attended the organization of the
Southern Baptist Con\ention, Ma}- 8-1 1, 1845. There
were gathered in Augusta, Ga., three hundred and sev-
450 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. iii.
enty-seven delegates from Marj/land, Virginia, North Caro-
lina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Ken-
tucky, and the District of Columbia. Dr. W. B. Johnson,
who had served for many years as president of the Triennial
Convention, was appointed president ; Hon. W. Lumpkin,
of Georgia, and J. B. Taylor, of Virginia, vice-presidents ;
and Jesse Hartwell and James C. Crane, secretaries. A
committee of two representatives from each State presented
the following resolution, which was unanimously adopted:
" That for peace and harmony, and in order to accomplish
the greatest amount of good, and for the maintenance of
those Scriptural principles on which the General Missionary
Convention of the Baptist denomination of the United
States was originally formed, it is proper that this Con-
vention at once proceed to organize for the propagation of
the gospel." Two boards of managers were constituted:
one for foreign missions, with headquarters at Richmond,
Va., and one for domestic missions, with headquarters at
Marion, Ala. The officers of the former were : J. B. Jeter,
president ; C. D. Mallary, corresponding secretary ; M. T.
Sumner, recording secretary; and Archibald Thomas, treas-
urer; of the latter: Basil Manly, president; J. L. Reynolds,
corresponding secretary ; M. P. Jewett, recording secretary ;
and Thomas Chilton, treasurer. Each board had a vice-
president for each State represented. Provision was made
for triennial meetings, after the manner of the older Con-
vention. The Fundamental Articles provide for the com-
bination, for foreign and domestic mission work, and other
important objects connected with the Redeemer's kingdom,
of " such portions of the Baptist denomination in the United
States as may desire a general organization for Christian
benevolence, which shall fully respect the independence
and equal rights of the churches." An address was sent
forth by the Convention " to the brethren in the United
Chap. IV.] SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION. 45 1
States ; to the congregations connected with the respective
churches; and to all candid men," the spirit of which will
appear from the passages that follow : " A painful division
has taken place in the missionary operations of the Amer-
ican Baptists. We would explain the origin, the principles,
and the objects of that division, or the peculiar circum-
stances in which tlie organization of the Southern Baptist
Convention became necessary. Let not the extent of this
disunion be exaggerated. At the present time it involves
only the foreign and domestic missions of the denomina-
tion. Northern and Southern Baptists are still brethren.
They differ in no article of the faith. They are guided by
the same principles of gospel order. Fanatical attempts
have indeed been made, in some quarters, to exclude us of
the South from Christian fellowship. We do not retort
these attempts, and believe their extent to be compara-
tively limited. Our Christian fellowship is not, as we feel,
a matter to be obtruded upon any one. We abide by that
of our God, his dear Son, and all his baptized followers.
The few ultra-Northern brethren to whom we allude must
take what course they please. Tlicir conduct has not
influenced us in this movement. We do not regard the
rupture as extending to foundation principles, nor can we
think that the great body of our Northern brethren will so
regard it."
An historical recital of the events that have led up to
the separate organization of the Southern Baptists fol-
lows, involving the charge of departure from the original
principles of the Convention and from the compromise
resolution of the Convention of 1844 on the part of the
Foreign Mission Board. " The PRINCIPLES of the Southern
Baptist Convention," the document continues, "... are
conservative; while they are also, as we trust, equitable
and liberal. They purpose to do the Lord's work in the
452 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
way our fathers did it. . . . The constitution we adopt is
precisely that of the orginal union ; that in connection with
which, throughout his missionary Hfe, Adoniram Judson
has hved, and under which Ann Judson and Boardman
have died. We recede from it in no single step. We
have constructed for our basis no new creed, acting in this
matter upon a Baptist aversion for all creeds but the
Bible. . . . We claim to have acted in the premises with
liberality toward our Northern brethren. Thrust from the
common platform of equal rights, between the Northern
and Southern churches, we have but reconstructed that
platform. . . . Have they thrust us off? We retain but
one feeling in the case : tJiat ivc will not practically leave
it on any account, much less in obedience to such usurped
authority, or in deference to such a manifest breach of
trust as is here involved ; a breach of covenant that looks
various ways — heavenward and earthward. For we re-
peat, THEY WOULD FORBID US TO Spcak unto THE GEN-
TILES. . . . ' One thing is certain ' — we must go every-
where preaching the word. ' W' e can never be a party
to any arrangement ' for monopolizing the gospel ; any ar-
rangement which, like that of the Autocratical Interdict
of the North, would first drive us from our beloved colored
people, of whom they prove that they know nothing com-
paratively, and from the much-wronged aborigines of the
country ; and then cut us off from the whitening fields of
the heathen harvest-labor, to which by cogent appeals and
solemn prayers they have so often protested that, without
us, they were inadequate. ... In parting with beloved
brethren and old coadjutors in this cause, we could weep,
and have wept, for ourselves and for them ; but the season,
as well of weeping as of vain jangling, is, we are constrained
to believe, just now past. For years the pressure of men's
hands has been upon us far too heavily. Our brethren
Chap, iv.] COOPERATION IVITH OTHER SOCIETIES. 453
have pressed upon every inch of our privileges and our
sacred rights; but this only shall urge our gushing souls
to yield proportionately of their renewed efforts to the
Lord, to the church universal, and to a dying world ; even
as water pressed from without rises but the more within.
Above all, the mountain pressure of our obligations to
God, even our own God ; to Christ, and him crucified ; and
to the personal and social blessings of the Holy Spirit and
his influences, shall urge our little streams of water of life
to flow forth ; until every wilderness and desolate place
within our reach (and what extent of the w^orld's wilder-
ness, wisely considered, is not within our reach?) 'shall be
glad ' — even at this passing calamity of division ; and the
deserts of unconverted human nature ' rejoice, and blossom
as the rose.' "
The next Convention was appointed to be held in Rich-
mond, June 10, 1846. At the appointed time about one
hundred and fifty delegates assembled. The meeting was
a most solemn and decorous one. The American and
Foreign Bible Society, the American Baptist Publication
Society, the American Sunday-school Union, and the
Kentucky General Association sent corresponding mes-
sengers and expressed a willingness to cooperate with the
Convention. It was resolved " that before the final vote
upon questions of vital importance . . . the business of
the Convention shall be suspended, and prayer off"ered up
to Almighty God for the special guidance of his Spirit."
The Foreign Board, provisionally appointed the year be-
fore, reported receipts during the year of about $17,735
and a balance on hand of about $15,500. The Northern
society had refused to assign to this board a portion of the
mission work that had been jointly undertaken, preferring
to allow the missionaries themselves to select the board
under which they would labor. J. L. Shuck, a missionary
454 ^'^^^^ BAPTISl'S. [Per. hi.
to China, was present at the Convention and was under
appointment to return as a missionary of the Southern
board. S. C. Clopton and George Pearcy were under
appointment for mission work in China. The former was
solemnly ordained to the work during the Convention.
The Foreign Board had already begun the publication of
"The Southern Missionary Journal" (afterward named
"The Foreign Mission Journal"). J. B. Taylor was
appointed corresponding secretary of the Foreign Board.
The provisional Board of Domestic Missions reported re-
ceipts of $13,193 (including unpaid pledges). Six mis-
sionaries had been employed, but only a beginning had
been made. A proposal by the board to plant missions
in California and Mexico was stricken from the report on
the ground that such proposal " might be construed into a
political meaning." The needs of the colored population
of the South were duly considered, and steps were taken
looking to the evangelization of Africa. The following
resolution, which was heartily adopted, indicates the atti-
tude of Southern Baptists in 1846 toward the African
race : " Resolved, That in view of the present condition of
the African race, and in view of the indications of Divine
Providence toward that portion of the great family of fallen
men, we feel that a solemn obligation rests not only upon
the Convention, but upon all Christians, to furnish them
with the gospel and a suitable Christian ministry." It
was thought that missionaries from the North would never
be able to endure the climate of Africa, and that chief re-
liance must be placed upon colored missionaries. It was
the opinion of the committee appointed to report on this
matter that ten such might be at once provided for. It
was decided to cooperate with the American and Foreign
Bible Society at home and abroad.
A resume of the work of the Convention in home and
Chap, iv.] HOME MISSION BOARD. 455
foreign mission and Sunday-school work is all that is here
practicable. From 1846 to i860 the missionary work of
the Convention was carried forward with marked enthu-
siasm and success. During the first thirteen years of the
existence of the Home Mission Board of the Southern
Convention the Baptists of the South contributed about
seven times as much money for this purpose as they had
contributed through the American Baptist Home Mission
Society during the preceding tliirteen years. Every de-
partment of denominational life was quickened by the in-
creased responsibility felt and by the increased confidence
that sprang from direct control. Heretofore the boards
had all been located at the North and Conventions were
never held in the South. Interest was intensified by the
possession of boards and by the possibility of attending
the Conventions in larger numbers. Not only did the de-
nomination greatly increase in numbers and in liberality
under the new arrangement, but the antinomian and anti-
missionary spirit that was rife throughout the South
speedily gave place to the triumphant missionary spirit.
The Home Mission Board was located at Marion, Ala.,
till 1882, when it was transferred to Atlanta, Ga. The
prosperity of the home mission cause to the outbreak of
the war was remarkable. Up to 1861 the board had " sent
forth 750 missionaries, added 15,000 members to the
churches, built about 200 houses of worship, constituted
200 new churches, and had collected and disbursed about
$300,000." During the Civil War the work of the board
was chiefly in the armies, where its numerous missionaries
did a noble and fruitful work. A period of depression and
discouragement followed the war. Not only was the coun-
try impoverished and disorganized, but the affairs of the
board seem to have been ill managed. It became involved
in debt, and no enthusiasm could be aroused in the churches.
456 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
Receipts fell short of $20,000 a year, and much of this was
required for interest and expenses. Most of the money
raised just after the war came from Kentucky, Missouri,
and Maryland, where losses in consequence of the war had
been comparatively slight. The number of missionaries
employed in 1881-82 was only 36, and only 333 additions
by baptism were reported. With the reorganization of the
board and its transference to Atlanta a period of prosperity
was inaugurated. The number of missionaries employed
ro.se in 1883 to 95, in 1884 to 144, in 1885 to 187, in 1886
to 255, in 1888 to 287, in 1889 to 324, in 1891 to 406. A
.slight retrenchment was found to be necessary in the suc-
ceeding years, and the number employed in 1894 was only
381. This work has been distributed throughout the
Southern States, Indian Territor}-, Oklahoma, and Cuba.
In the older States most of the home mission work is
accomplished by the agency of the State Conventions.
Texas has (in 1894) tlie largest number of missionaries,
namely, 105 ; Florida has 51, West Arkansas and Indian
Territory, 54, Kentucky, 24, Arkansas, 21, Mississippi, 22,
Oklahoma, 12, while the rest of the States have from i to
10 each. A large amount of work is done in cooperation
with the State Conventions.
The work accomplished by the board among the Indians
of the Indian Territory is said to have been one of the
most remarkable in the history of modern missions. Ac-
cording to a recent report of the board, " the membership
among them, in proportion to population, is now equal to
that of our strongest Baptist States. They have been re-
claimed from barbarism. They support a well- organized
government. They have opened farms, builded houses,
established schools, and are prepared, if they so desired,
to enter this great federation of States as a constituent
member." There are now in the Indian Territory 16
Chap, iv.] THE CUBAN MISSION. 45 7
Associations, 301 churches, and 13,844 members. The
work accomplished in Texas lias been, in the opinion of
the board, still more remarkable. Work was begun when
Texas had only a small, scattered, and spiritually neglected
population. To-day it is one of the strongest of Baptist
States. The history of the Cuban mission is full of ro-
mantic interest. The mission had its origin in the conver-
sion of Alberto J. Diaz, a cajotain in the rebel army during
the last Cuban rebellion, whom the exigencies of war had
driven to sea in a small craft, who was rescued by a pass-
ing vessel when in imminent clanger, who made his way to
New York, entered upon a course of medical study, and
while dangerously ill in a hospital was brought, through
the kindly ministrations of a Baptist lady and the reading
of a Spanish New Testament, to a knowledge of the truth.
He was baptized into the fellowship of the Willoughby
Avenue Church, Brooklyn, and, led by an irresistible in-
fluence, he soon afterward returned to Cuba to proclaim to
his benighted fellow-countrymen the gospel of salvation.
Repudiated by kindred and friends, he began to hold
evangelistic meetings, supporting himself by the practice
of medicine. A number of converts were soon gained.
The priests became alarmed and " boycotted " his medical
practice. Having secured an appointment as colporteur
under a Philadelphia Bible society, he continued his work.
In true apostolic fashion he endured persecution. Im-
prisonment, mob violence, and attempted assassination at
the hands of a priest were his portion. Yet he went
steadily forward, his eloquent and zealous proclamation of
the truth attracting multitudes of hearers and gaining'
many converts. The conversion of a Cuban at Key
West, Fla., where a Baptist missionary was laboring, led
to the establishment of a special mission for the Cubans
residing there and furnished the connecting-link between
458 THE BAPTISTS. [Pek. hi.
the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Conven-
tion and the Cuban mission inaugurated by Diaz. The
greatest enthusiasm was aroused among Southern Bap-
tists. Influential deputations visited Cuba and became
convinced that Diaz had in him all the elements of a
master missionary, and that Providence had through him
opened a door for the gospel that must be entered. The
greatest difficulty had been experienced by Diaz in secur-
ing a suitable place for religious services. Multitudes
were eager to hear the proclamation of the truth, and a
large building could at once be filled. With funds raised
through the Home Mission Board a fine theater building
was purchased in Havana at a cost of $75,000. Since that
time the work has been carried forward with unabated zeal
and success. To the evangelizing agencies of the mission
belong a girls' school and a hospital for women and chil-
dren. The statistics for 1894 are: 24 missionaries em-
ployed (all but one native Cubans), 150 baptized, and a
total membership of 2582.
The board has sustained successful missions among the
Germans of Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and Texas, and
among the French of Missouri and Louisiana. The obliga-
tion to put forth earnest efi"ort for the evangelization of the
millions of colored people in the South has from the first
been recognized, but since 1865 far less attention has been
given to this important department of work than might
reasonably have been expected. This may be due, in
part, to the fact that the Northern Baptists are doing a
very extensive work among these people. The work un-
dertaken by the board has been chiefly in the line of hold-
ing institutes for the instruction of colored preachers.
Still more has been accomplished by the Home Mission
Boards of the State Conventions.
The mountain reoions of the South furnish an almo.st
Chap, iv.] MOUXTAIX WORK. 459
unlimited field for the activity of the board. It covers
extensive portions of West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky,
Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and
Alabama, with a population of 3,000,000, a majority of
whom are under Baptist influence. These regions are the
stronghold of the anti- missionary spirit. The people are
for the most part illiterate, and strongly prejudiced against
modern evangelical methods. In the opinion of the board
" there are no people whose wants are more pressing,
whose condition demands more of thought to devise
plans to meet their necessities, or more of wisdom in their
application. There are no people whose future, when they
shall be properl)- developed, promises so much of useful-
ness to the world." The most effective method of reaching
this vast population with evangelical influence is thought
to be the establishment of denominational schools. Eight
Baptist high schools have been established in North
Georgia under the fostering care of the board, five in
western North Carolina, and one in Kentuck}'. It is the
intention of the board to go forward along this line till all
these vast regions shall have been supplied with Christian
educational facilities.
Special attention is being given by the board to the
evangelizing of the cities, a work greatly neglected by
Southern Baptists in earlier times.
Since the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention
the Baptist membership of the territory covered has in-
creased from about 450,000, of whom 200,000 were col-
ored, to 2,654,397, of whom 1,291,046 are colored.' It is
estimated that at least 2250 churches have been consti-
tuted through the agency of the board, and that at least
1 These figures for 1893 are considerably less than those of the United
States census of i8go (see vol. i. of the present series, pp. 27, 30, 36, 38,
40, 43, 44, 48, 52, 53). On the basis of the census figures the present num-
ber of Southern Baptists would exceed 3,000,000.
460 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
200,000 ha\'e been converted and baptized in connection
with its eff(_)rts. The board has aided in erecting nearl}'
1000 houses of worship. The receipts of the board for
the year ending May, 1893, amounted to $106,989.58, of
whicli $36,040.69 were special. Cooperative bodies re-
ported for the same period $134,130.35. Since 1888 the
board has issued a monthly journal entitled " Our Home
Field." To Dr. I. T. Tichenor, corresponding" secretary of
the board since 1882, is diie much of the credit for the
enlargement of its work.
Equally aggressi\-e and progressive has been the work
of the Foreign Mission Board. China and Africa were the
first countries to which attention was directed. Two of
tlie missionaries of the Triennial Convention, J. L. Shuck
and T. J. Roberts, transferred their services to the South-
ern board soon after its organization. The Canton mission
was strengthened by several new appointments (1846 on-
ward). In 1847 the Shanghai mission was opened, with
M. T. Yates, J. L. Shuck, and T. W. Tobey as missionaries.
The Shantung and Tung-Chow missions were inaugurated
in i860 under the direction of J. L. Holmes and J. B.
Hartwell. In Africa missions were opened in Liberia
from 1846 onward. In i860 there were in this region 24
.'Stations and churches, 18 pastors, and 1258 members.
The Yoruba mission dates from 1850. The Italian mis-
sion w^as organized in 1870 and has had a successful his-
tory. The chief missionaries have been W. N. Cote, G. B.
Taylor, and J. H. Eager. Brazil was occupied in 1879
and Mexico in 1880. The last named is in some respects
the most interesting and hopeful field cultivated by the
board. Japan was entered in 1889. The present work
of the board is as follows : In the Chinese missions work
is carried forward at 9 main stations and 48 out-stations
by 15 male and 21 female missionaries (including wives of
Chap, iv.] FOREIGN MISSIOX WORK. 46 1
missionaries); 13 churches have been organized and have
a membership of 1243. The condition of these missions
is regarded as hopeful. In Africa the board sustains 4
main stations and 4 out-stations, worked by 4 male mis-
sionaries and 5 female (including missionaries', wives).
There are 5 churches, with a membership of 166. This
has been one of the most discouraging fields cultivated by
the board. As in most African missions, the loss of life
has been appalling. The Italian mission is one of the
most interesting. It has 15 main stations and 54 out-
stations, 2 male missionaries and i female, 17 churches,
and 372 members. In Brazil 11 main stations and 21
out-stations are cultivated by 9 male and 6 female mis-
sionaries. The converts have been gathered in 1 1 churches,
with a membership of 519. In Mexico the board has 9
main stations and 30 out-stations, directed by 10 male and
15 female missionaries; 37 churches have been organized
and have a membership of 1163. The Japanese mission
has 2 main stations and 4 out-stations, worked by 2 mis-
sionaries and their wives. A church has been organized
with a membership of 31. For the year ending May,
1893, the Foreign Mission Board received $154,686.28, of
which $20,110 were given as a special Centennial Fund.
The corresponding secretaries of the board have been men
of high character and admirable devotion to the work.
J. B. Taylor served from 1846 until his death, in 1872,
and was succeeded by H. A. Tupper, who served with
great efficiency until 1893, and wrote an excellent history
of the foreign mission work of the Convention. The pres-
ent secretary is R. J. Willingham, who has entered upon
his work with marked enthusiasm, and who is possessed of
organizing ability and capacity for work* in a very high
measure.
In 1 89 1 the Convention appointed a Sunday-school
462 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. 111.
Board, whose chief function is to supply periodicals, song-
books. Bibles, Testaments, cards, maps, and other requisites
for Sunday-schools. The board has its headquarters at
Nashville. T. P. Bell is its efficient corresponding secre-
tary and treasurer. It publishes " The Teacher," lesson
quarterlies of various grades, lesson leaflets, children's illus-
trated papers, and " The Young People's Leader." Its re-
ceipts for the year ending May, 1894, were $48,539.16.
The Southern Baptist Convention has always been par-
ticularly happy in its choice of presiding officers. While
other bodies have passed the office around in a compli-
mentary v/ay, without much regard to presiding ability,
this body has been presided over by a succession of the
ablest parliamentarians that the denomination has pos-
sessed, and has established the habit of continuing" through
a series of years presidents who ha\-e shown special fitness
for the office. The first president was the \-enerable
\\ illiam B. Johnson, of South Carolina, who had presided
over the Triennial Convention. He was succeeded in 185 i
by R. B. C. Howell. Richard Fuller held the position
from 1859 to 1863, P. H. Mell from 1863 to 1872 and
again from 1881 to 1887, J. P. Boyce from 1872 to 1880
and in 1888, and Jonathan Haralson, a high judicial officer,
from 1889 to the present.
The triennial meetings gave place after 1849 to biennial.
Since 1866 annual meetings ha\'e been held. It is proba-
ble that the Southern Baptist Convention is surpassed in
the ability and eloquence of its members and in the dignity
of its proceedings by no similar body of any denomination.
Unfortunately, the grace of giving has not been developed
to a satisfactory extent in the churches of the Convention.
Pronounced opposition to benevolent institutions is now
almost confined to the mountain regions, but the propor-
tion of those who actively aid in carrying forward the en-
CiiAi'. IV.] " OMISSIOXAKV BAPTISTS. 463
terprises of the denomination is far smaller than among
Baptists of other parts of the continent. Referring with
gratitude to the growth of the denomination, in the terri-
tory covered by the Convention, from 450,000 in 1845 to
2,500,000 in 1894, the secretary of the Home Board writes :
" And yet our rejoicings are beclouded by the painful fact
that the spirit of missions has made so little progress in
our churches. It is estimated that of the one million and
a half of our [white] church-members not more than one
third . . . ever give anything to mission work. We are
nurturing in our churches a million baptized believers who
ignore alike the purpose for which our God sent his Son
into the world, the great command of our Saviour, and
the needs of a race perishing in its guilt. ... In one of
our large city churches, where especial pains have been
taken to secure contributions from every member, the
contributors reach about one fifth of the membership. In
another, where a liberal contribution was taken for one of
our mission boards, the number contributing was confined
to less than a hundred out of a membership of more than
a thousand." It is evident that the poverty of the South
is not a sufficient explanation of this widespread indiffer-
ence to missionary enterprise.
The support of pastors throughout the territory of the
Convention is far less generous than it should be. Out-
side of the towns and cities few churches enjoy the ad-
vantages of a weekly ministry. A large proportion of the
churches are content with monthly services, and man}^
pastors are obliged to supplement the pittance that they
receive from four churches by school-teaching or farming.
This state of things is probably due to the fact that in the
earlier time a large proportion of the pastors were unedu-
cated men, who were content to follow their secular avoca-
tions during the week and to preach without remuneration
464 ^'^^^ BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
on Sundays. The general indifference to missions may be
due to the same cause. Accustomed to see Christian work
carried on without expense, it is difficult for members of
such churches to understand that money is really needed
for the world's evangelization ; and they are likely to sus-
pect that moneys collected are extravagantly used. But
there has been of late years a notable improvement in
pastoral support and in contributions to missionary and
educational objects.
As has already been stated, a colored Baptist member-
ship about equal to that of the white churches covers the
territory of the Southern Baptist Convention. Before
emancipation the great mass of the colored Baptist mem-
bership was gathered in the white churches. Their spirit-
ual needs were thus well cared for, and the Christian own-
ers of sla\es showed in many cases a most commendable
interest in their moral and religious welfare. Special pews
in the rear of the churches or in the galleries were set aside
for their use. In many of the cities large colored churches
were gathered from an early date. President Ryland, of
Richmond College, ministered for years to a large colored
Baptist church. Many of the ablest ministers held special
services for the colored people of the communities in which
they lived. It was natural that with emancipation the
colored people should have desired to enjo}- complete in-
dependence in religious matters and should ha\ e withdrawn
from the churches in which they could not expect to be
treated as equals. Being ignorant themseh-es, the mem-
bers of the colored churches could not be expected to be
fastidious about the qualit}^ of the preaching to which they
listened, and as no educated ministers of their own race
were available they had to be content with the services of
the uneducated. Much has been done by the American
Baptist Home Mission Society in educating preachers and
Chap, iv.] THE COLORED BAPTISTS. 465
teachers, and education is gradually affecting the masses
of the colored population ; but the work is too vast to be
accomplished in a day, and immense areas of darkness and
destitution remain to be overcome. It is doubtful whether,
with all the effort that has been put forth, the spiritual needs
of the colored people are as well cared for as they were
before emancipation ; but the separation and the independ-
ent development of the colored churches were an inevitable
stage in the working out of the destiny of the race, and it
is to be hoped that the agencies now at work, multiplied
by the increased liberality of the denomination North
and South, will in time provide this great portion of our
denomination with educated teachers and preachers and
elevate the masses of the colored population to a higher
plane of intelligence and morality. The colored Baptists
have shown themselves highly responsive to the efforts
that have been put forth on their behalf. Besides their
State Conventions the colored Baptists have a number of
societies which aim to be national in their character, but
which are not very vigorously sustained. The Baptist
Foreign Missionary Convention of the United States was
organized in 1880. It supports a few missionaries in
Africa and sustains helpful relations to the colored Baptists
of the Bahamas. The receipts of the Convention for the
year ending September, 1893, were $5590. For other
societies and full statistics the reader is referred to vol. i.
of the present series, pp. 27-30. The missionary and ed-
ucational work that is being carried on by the American
Baptist Home Mission Society will be treated in another
chapter.
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (opened at
Greenville, S. C, in 1859, removed to Louisville, Ky., in
1877) is intimately but not organically related to the
Southern Baptist Convention. The need for such an In-
466 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
stitution was felt and the matter was discussed in 1845,
when the Convention was organized. The fact that sev-
eral of the colleges of the South provided a certain amount
of instruction in theological subjects and were anxious
to expand their theological work no doubt embarrassed
the situation to some extent. In 1856 James P. Boyce, a
graciuate of Brown University and Princeton Theological
Seminary, and at that time professor in the theological
department of Furman University, delivered an inaugural
address entitled " Three Changes in Theological Institu-
tions." He urged that complete provision should be made
for the training of men who had not the advantages of a
course in arts; that the amplest provision should be made
for the most extensive and thorough training of those pre-
pared to receive it; and that a doctrinal test should be in-
stituted for theological instructors. At an educational
convention held in Louisville, Ky., in 1857, Professor
Boyce submitted a proposal on behalf of the State Con-
vention of South Carolina to the efifect that the Baptists
of South Carolina would contribute $100,000 toward the
establishment of a theological seminary at Greenville, S. C,
provided the Baptists of the other States of the South-
ern Baptist Convention would contribute a like amount.
These conditions were soon fulfilled so far as subscriptions
were concerned, and the Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary was opened in October, 1859, with a faculty
composed of James P. Boyce, John A. Broadus, Basil
Manly, Jr., and William Williams. Of the wisdom of the
choice of instructors the history of the seminary has given
abundant proof. The war of secession swept away the
subscribed endowments, but at the close of the war the
institution was reopened. The history of the next twelve
years was that of noble self-sacrifice on the part of the
professors and of good work performed under great diflfi-
CiiAi'. IV.] THEOLOGICAL SEMLXARY. A.6']
culties. The removal to Louisville, Ky., was a result of
efforts to secure an endowment. The Baptists of Ken-
tucky were prepared to do what impoverished South
Carolina could no longer do. Heroic work on the part of
Dr. Boyce and his coadjutors has resulted in an ample
endowment, and splendid equipment in library and build-
ings. The constituency of the Seminary embraces nearly
two thirds of the white Baptists of the United States, and
the number of students is far larger than that of any other
Baptist institution of the kind. The Seminary has 8 in-
structors, 260 students, and assets valued at $775,000.
CHAPTER V.
NORTHERN, NATIONAL, AND INTERNATIONAL SOCIETIES,
AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS (1845-94).^
The secession of the Southern churches to form the
Southern Baptist Convention brought on a crisis in the
Home and Foreign Mission Boards. At the meeting of
the Foreign Mission Board in May, 1845, it was found
that by reason of the dissatisfaction that existed at the
South the receipts had fallen so far short of the estimates
and expenditures as to cause a most embarrassing deficit
of $40,000. The receipts during the year had really been
in excess of those of the preceding year, but expenditures
had been greatly increased, and increased contributions
had been counted on. To meet the emergency, and to
reorganize the foreign mission work in view of the with-
drawal of the Southern brethren, a special meeting of the
General Convention was held in New York in November,
1845. The enthusiasm of tlie meeting, which the increased
responsibilities and a determination not to allow the work
undertaken to languish would naturally ha\'e produced,
was greatly heightened by the presence of Adoniram
Judson, the veteran missionary, who, after thirty-three
years of heroic service and suffering, had returned to
1 See Am. Bapt. Year-books ; reports of the various societies ; Smith,
" Miss. Sk." ; " Bapt. Miss. Mag." ; " Bapt. Home Miss, in N. A." ; " Bapt.
and the Nat. Cent." ; " Proceedings Nat. Bapt Ed. Conv.," 1870 and 1872;
" Bapt. Mem.," 1845 .wq. ; and Cathcart, " Bapt. Encyc."
468
CiiAi'. \.] MISSWXAKY L'XIOX. 469
America for a short period of rest. There were present
two hundred and seventy- five delegates, all of the New
England and Middle States being represented, and Mary-
land, the District of Columbia, Kentucky, and Indiana hav-
ing one delegate each. A new constitution was adopted,
the first article of which gave to the society the name
"The American Baptist Missionary Union." Life-mem-
bers were to consist of all members present at the adoption
of the constitution and of such others as should pay at one
time not less than $100. Missions were made the exclu-
sive object of the union. Propositions to exclude slave-
holders from life-membership and other privileges of the
union were promptly negatived. The deficit of $40,000
had been reduced to $10,000. This sum was raised, and
$2200 more, at the Convention. Com.mittees were ap-
pointed to secure necessary legislation, and it was deter-
mined that a final meeting of the General Convention
should be held in Brooklyn in May, 1846, to receive the
reports of the committees and to prepare for the meeting
of the union immediately thereafter.
At the meeting in May, 1846, the treasurer reported
receipts amounting to $100,219.94. The missions of the
Convention had been v/ell maintained during the year, and
604 baptisms were reported.
The American Baptist Missionary Union held its first
annual meeting immediately after the dissolution of the
General Convention. Daniel Sharp was chosen president
and Solomon Peck corresponding secretary of the board.
Boston continued to be the headquarters of the recon-
structed board. The history of the union for nearly fifty
years has been one of enthusiastic devotion to missions on
the part of its constituency, wise and aggressive manage-
ment on the part of the board and its secretaries, and noble
self-sacrifice and achievement on the part of its missionaries.
470 THE BAPTISTS. [I'kr. hi.
In no year have the receipts of the union fallen as low as
those of the General Convention before the secession of the
Southern brethren, and they have almost steadily risen,
until in 1893 they reached the magnificent sum of $766,-
782.95. The union has invested funds amounting to
nearly $700,000 and mission property of great value.
A summary of the present operations of the union is all
that can here be attempted. The Baptist cause in Sweden,
fostered by the union, has been greatly prospered. It is
represented by 647 preachers, 550 churches, and 36,254
members. During the year ending April, 1894, there
were reported 1847 baptisms, and contributions for the
support of the gospel amounting to $112,328. The
Swedish Baptists have a theological seminary with an
attendance of forty-two students, and are an aggressive
body. The mission was opened in 1855. The union still
supports missionaries in Sweden at an expense of $8626.
The work of the union (and its predecessor) in France
dates from 1832 and is still being vigorously pressed.
There are at present in connection with this mission 19
churches, 30 preachers, and 1900 members. The society
expended on this field during the last year reported $27,-
509, and the native churches raised for the support of the
work $3278. The German mission dates from 1834 and
is now repre.ented by 139 churches, 277 preachers, and
27,332 members, of whom 2596 were baptized during the
last year reported. This mission is still aided to the ex-
tent of $9940. The German Baptists have a theological
seminary at Hamburg, with 23 students. The field of this
mission extends to Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Galicia,
Bulgaria, Roumania, and Switzerland. The apostolic la-
bors and sufferings of J. G. Oncken, baptized by Barnas
Sears in the Elbe in 1834, and for more than forty years
the chief leader in Baptist work among the German-speak^
CiiAr. v.] FOREIGX MISSIONS. 47 1
ing populations of Europe, form one of the most interest-
ing chapters in the history of modern missions. The work
in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Russia is largely an
outgrowth of the missionary activity put forth under the
direction of Oncken and supported to a considerable extent
by the funds of the union. In Russia there are in con-
nection with the mission aided by the union 21 churches,
90 preachers, and 3985 members. The terrible persecu-
tions to which Russian Baptists have been subjected are
well known. To this mission the union contributed dur-
ing the last year reported $2700. An extensive work has
been accomplished in Denmark with some help from the
union. There are now reported 25 churches, 70 preach-
ers, and 3165 members. The appropriation of the union
for the year was $1500. In the Norway mission there are
reported 27 churches, 16 preachers, and 1961 members.
The appropriation of the union was $1600. In Spain 3
small churches have been constituted, with a membership
of 100. The union supports this work at an expense of
$2 1 32. Work has extended to Finland, where 2 i churches
have been constituted, with 10 preachers and 1329 mem-
bers. Something has been attempted in Greece, but the
results have not been gratifying.
The Burmese mission planted by Judson and Boardman
has been one of the most successful. There are now on
this field 25 main stations, 665 out-stations, 148 mission-
aries (including 47 wives of missionaries), 601 native
preachers, 600 churches, of which 360 are self-supporting,
and 33,337 members. The Rangoon Baptist College is a
well-equipped literary and theological school with an at-
tendance of 225. The contributions of the churches during
the last year reported, for churches, schools, and general
benevolence, amounted to $5 1,999.71, while the appropria-
tions of the union for work on the Burmese field for the
472 THE BAPTISTS. [!'i;k. hi.
same time amounted to $179,257.43. The most .•success-
ful department of the work has been that among the
Karens.
The Assam mission (i 841) is directed by 40 missionaries
(of whom 18 are missionaries' wives) and has 31 native
preachers, 32 churches (of which 17 are seH'-supporting),
and a membership of 3469. The appropriations to this
field for the year amounted to $42,057.
The Telugu mission in India (1840) is in some respects
the most successful of the missions of the union. The
great ingatherings through the labors of J. E. Clough and
his associates are among the marvels of modern missions.
The missionaries on the field number 88 (of whom 31 are
wives of missionaries). There are 250 native preachers, 76
churches (of which only 2 are self-supporting), and 54,968
members. The converts are drawn from the lowest grades
of the population and are for the most part extremely poor ;
hence the slight progress in the direction of self-support as
compared with that of Burmah and Assam, where a better
class of people are reached. A theological seminary at
Ramapatam has been training preachers for the field since
1874, and a college has just been estabUshed at Ongole.
Both are partially endowed. The appropriations for the
last year reported amounted to $1 16,468.
The Chinese mission (1833) is one of the oldest missions
of the union, and although it has enjoyed the prolonged
services of some of the ablest missionaries of the age,
among whom William Dean and William Ashmore may
be specially mentioned, progress has not been commensu-
rate with effort. Eleven main stations and 67 out-stations
are cultivated by 80 missionaries (of whom 26 are mission-
aries' wives) and by 50 native preachers. There are 20
churches (of which 3 are self-supporting) and 1553 mem-
bers. The appropriations for the year were $75,427.96.
Chap, v.] HOME MISSIOXS. 473
The Japanese mission (1872) has 8 main stations and 70
out-stations, and its work is directed by 50 missionaries (of
whom 16 are missionaries' wives). It has 39 native preach-
ers and 19 churches, with a membership of 1665. Two
of the churches are self-supporting.
The African mission ([878) embraces 10 main stations
and 16 out-stations and is served by 50 missionaries (of
whom 1 5 are wives of missionaries) ; 1 2 1 7 members are
gathered in 14 churches.
The total number of church-members in connection with
the missions of the union in heathen lands, according to
the latest report, is 96,109; in connection with European
missions the number reported is 89,1 19. The former are
almost exclusively the result of the work supported by the
union ; the latter are so in a far less degree.
No mission society, with work so widespread and diver-
sified, is able to report as large results in proportion to the
money expended and the effort put forth.
Up to 1865 the Missionary Union continued to sustain
the missions among the aborigines that had been under-
taken by the General Convention, except such as fell within
the territory of the Southern Baptist Convention. An
educational and evangelizing work of considerable impor-
tance was accomplished. In 1865 this work was assumed
by the American Baptist Home Mission Society.
The history of the American Baptist Home Mission So-
ciety since 1845 has been that of almost steady progress
and of highly creditable achievement. The withdrawal of
the Southern churches produced little apparent effect on
the financial receipts, which soon far exceeded the highest
fieures that had been reached before the division. The
largest amount ever received in one year was $55 ^595-92,
for the year ending April, 1888 ; for the year ending April,
1894, the receipts were $333-1 3 7-6 1, which may be re-
474 ^^^^ BAPTISTS. [Pkr. m.
garded as about the normal income of the society. The
society has invested funds and property to the vakie of
more than $1,500,000.
The society devotes a large part of its income to mission
work among the foreign populations of the country. Dur-
ing the last year reported the society expended for work
done among the Germans $20,404, among the Scandina-
vians, $26,296, among the French, $6618, among the
Chinese, $5680, among the Bohemians, $700, among the
Poles, $300, among the Finns, $187.50, among the Portu-
guese, $1 87.50. Mission work was done among the Indians
at an expense of $8788, among the colored people at an
expense of $12,562, and among the Mexicans at an
expense of $16,447. . Among P^nglish-speaking peoples
$[31 ,024 were expended. TliC fielci of the society embraces
every State and Territory of the United States (including
Alaska), Mexico, British Columbia, and Manitoba.
A vast educational work is carried forward by the society
among the colored people of the South, the Indians, the
Chinese, and the Mexicans. Thirty-three schools and
colleges are maintained at an expense of $171,856. This
educational work is superintended by Dr. M. Mac Vicar, one
of the most experienced educators in the country, and is
believed to be conducted in a most economical and efificient
manner. Most of the schools have normal departments
for the training of teachers, and instruction in the Bible and
in methods of Christian work is given in all. Attention is
given to manual training in several of the schools, and to
domestic economy in most of them. The schools are classi-
fied as follows by the superintendent: 14 higher and 15
secondary schools for the colored people ; i higher and 4
secondary schools for the Indians. The schools for colored
people are distributed throughout the Southern States.
The school property is valued at nearly $r, 000, 000, and
Chap, v.] rVBLICATIOX SOCIETY. 475
some of the schools have small endowments. About 6000
students received instruction during the last year reported.
An important part of the work of the society is that of
assisting by gift and loan in the erection of houses of wor-
ship. This department of the work has of late years been
vigorously administered with excellent results. In the
sixty-two years of its existence the society has recei\ed
$8,038,082.24, has been instrumental in the organization
of 5629 churches, and 1 34, 1 79 baptisms ha\'e been reported
in connection with its work. It has had a succession of
able administrative officers : Jonathan Going, B. M. Hill,
J. S. Backus, Nathan Bishop, S. S. Cutting, H. L. More-
house, and the present secretar}-, T. J. Morgan. Judging
by the results, the administration of Secretary Morehouse
(1880-93) ha-'' been among the ablest, and the work can
hardly fail to go successfully forward under the present
gifted and experienced secretary.
The American Baptist Publication Society may be said
to be national in its constituency. It has three main de-
partments : Publication, Bible, and Missionary. Its book
and tract publication business has become very extensive ;
fourteen Sunday-school periodicals issue from its presses
in large editions. The Bible department distributes the
Scriptures in various versions. The work of completing
the Bible Union version has been intrusted to competent
scholars. A valuable Sunday-school and colportage work
has been accomplished by the missionary department, and
ministers have been supplied with books. The net assets
of the society are about $1,000,000. The society has been
among the chief agencies for the advancement of Baptist
principles and evangelical Christianity in America. For
many years Benjamin Griffith was the efficient administra-
tive head. He has been succeeded by Colonel C. H. Banes,
one of the ablest business men of Philadelphia.
476 rilE BAPTISTS. [Pkr. iil.
The American Baptist Education Society was organized
in 1888. For many years the need for such a society had
been felt, and efforts were made from 1867 onward to secure
a general agency for supervising the educational movements
of the denomination. In October, 1 867, the New York Bap-
tist State Convention appointed a committee to arrange for
the formation of an Educational Commission for the promo-
tion of a wider popular interest in the higher forms of edu-
cation and a more adecjuate increase in the number of
educated Baptist ministers. An Educational Commission
was created shortly afterward, with S. S. Cutting as secre-
tary. The commission at first restricted its operations to
New York and New Jersey. The secretary soon found
that the work could not be thus restricted, and his interest
in the welfare of the denomination at large led to the call-
ing of a National Baptist Educational Convention. In two
great conventions, the first held in Brooklyn in 1870, the
second in Philadelphia in 1872, the ablest Bapiist educators
from all parts of the United States gathered and discussed
with freedom and fullness the educational problems of the
time. At the first meeting the name of the commission
was changed to the American Baptist Educational Com-
mission. A constitution was adopted at the Con\-ention
of 1872. A mighty impulse was given to the cause of
Christian education, and many of our colleges and semi-
naries owe much of their prosperity to the quickening of
popular interest through this agency ; but it had no finan-
cial basis beyond the subscriptions of a few individuals who
took an interest in effecting the organization, and it was
allowed to perish.
The American Baptist Education Society was organ-
ized (in 1888) for the following objects: " i. To promote
the establishment of schools wherever deemed desirable for
the development of a wise and comprehensive educational
Chap, v.] EDUCATIOX SOCIETY. 477
system, by such cooperation as may be practicable in se-
curing sites, buildings, and equipment ; and, in the early
ntages of such undertakings, by payment, in part, of
teachers' salaries. 2. To stimulate effort for the endow-
ment of institutions of learning. 3. To promote a lively
interest among Baptists in Christian education, and espe-
cially to stimulate our young people to acquire the best
education possible. 4. To promote the best education of
the Baptist ministry, cooperating whenever advisable with
existing organizations for ministerial education, and with
our theological institutions in seminary extension work for
pastors. 5. To contend for the application of the principle
of separation of church and state in educational matters.
6. To solicit, receive, and hold in trust, permanent funds,
the income of which shall be applied to the general pur-
poses of the society or to the specific educational objects,
as designated by donors. 7. To procure, compile, and
publish annually the principal facts concerning the condi-
tion and progress of educational enterprises of Baptists in
North America."
The chief work of the society so far, and that which has
given it the strong position that it occupies to-day, has
been the administration, according to the above principles,
of the educational gifts of Mr. John D. Rockefeller. It is
probable that the society had its origin in his known desire
for such a denominational agency for the administration of
the funds that he was ready to bestow for the promotion
of denominational education. The society was intrusted
with the work of raising the funds necessary for securing
Mr. Rockefeller's first gift for the founding of the Univer-
sity of Chicago. . The society seeks to promote the affilia-
tion of smaller colleges with the University of Chicago,
and has aided many institutions in the West and South in
paying debts and increasing endowments. Its donations
478 THE BAPTISTS. [Pkr. hi.
have been conditioned on the raising of several times the
amounts from other sources. Tlie first efficient secretary,
F. T. Gates, has been succeeded by H. L. Morehouse, who,
as secretary of the Home Mission Society, was largely
instrumental in securing the formation of the Education
Society.
The Baptist Young People's Union of America was
organized in 1 891 and has already attained to large pro-
portions. It is an international society, admitting Canadian
Baptists on equal terms. Its design is to promote a frater-
nal union of all young people's organizations in the Bap-
tist churches of North America. It is modeled on the
Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor, and aims
to emphasize denominational principles in a way that is
not possible in an interdenominational organization. Its
annual conventions have been attended by thousands and
have been full of enthusiasm. By means of its Christian
Culture Courses it is seeking to educate the young people
of the denomination in sacred literature, denominational
history, the history of missions, etc. Its headquarters are
in Chicago, where its organ, "The Baptist Union," is pub-
lished. A founding fund of $40,000 ha.s been nearly raised,
and the union seems to be on a firm basis.
The Woman's Baptist Foreign Missionary Society,
organized in 1871, with its headquarters in Boston, and
the Woman's Baptist Foreign Missionary Society of the
West, organized the same year, with its headquarters in
Chicago, are valuable auxiliaries of the American Baptist
Missionary Union. The Women's Baptist Home Mis-
sion Society (1877) and the Women's American Baptist
Home Mission Society (1877), the former with its head-
quarters in Chicago, the latter with its headquarters in
Boston, cooperate to some extent with the American
Baptist Home Mission Society, but also do independent
Chap. \'.] HISTORICAL SOCIETY, AND CONGRESS. 479
work. The former sustains a missionary training-school
in Chicago.
The American Baptist Historical Society was organized
in 1853 and has its rooms in Philadelphia. It has collected
about seventy- five hundred bound volumes and a large
number of pamphlets, pertaining chiefly to the history of
the denomination.
The American Baptist Congress is an international
organization whose object is stated to be " to promote a
healthful sentiment among Baptists through free and court-
eous discussion of current questions by suitable persons."
It was organized in 1882 and holds an annual meeting
for the reading and discussion of papers on religious and
social matters of current interest. A valuable body of
literature is being formed by the annual publication of its
proceedings.
The work of the denomination in literary and theologi-
cal education during the past fifty years has been too large
and manifold to be treated advantageously in the space
that is available. Most of the colleges North and South
founded before 1845 have survived and have greatly added
to their endowments, equipment, and usefulness. Brown
University, the oldest of them all, was never so prosperous
as within the last few years. Its endowment and equip-
ment have made rapid strides, and the number of its
students has greatly increased. Its present staff numbers
66, and its assets aggregate $2,979,570. Colgate Univer-
sity (the successor of the old Hamilton Theological Insti-
tute and Madison University) has been amply endowed
and equipped by the sons of William Colgate and is going
rapidly forward in arts and theological work. The late
President E. Dodge doubtless deserves chief credit for
what has been accomplished. It has property and en-
dowments valued at $2,265,000.
48o THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
The University of Rochester was founded in 1850 as a
result of an effort to remove the institution from Hamilton.
Under the presidency of Martin B. Anderson, one of the
ablest of educators, the university attained to the front rank
of denominational institutions. Under President David J.
Hill it is still advancing. Its property and endowments
now amount to $1,129,262. The Rochester Theological
Seminary was an ofTshoot of the university (1851). The
late Ezekiel G. Robinson gave it a commanding position
by his strong personality and his power as a teacher.
Under Augustus H. Strong, an educator and writer of
high rank (1872 onward), large additions have been made
to endowment and ecjuipment, and there has been progress
in many directions. Its assets aggregate $777,515.
Newton Theological Institution, though venerable with
age, has lost nothing of the elasticity of youth. During
the long presidency of Al\'ah Hovey, one of the foremost
educators and theological authors of the denomination, it
has maintained its position as one of the leading theologi-
cal seminaries of th.e country. Steady progress has been
made in endowment and equipment. It has a faculty of
10, and assets valued at $639,603.
The Baptist Union Theological Seminary (founded in
1867, now the Di\'inity School of the University of Chi-
cago) had already attained to a position of usefulness and
influence not greatly surpassed by the older institutions of
the denomination when in 1890 it became a department of
the University of Chicago. George W. Northrup, one of
the ablest theologians and most inspiring teachers that the
denomination has produced, was president up to 1890.
The present dean is Eri B. Hulbert. It has 12 instructors,
and its assets are valued at $525,000.
Crozer Theological Seminary (Upland, Pa.) was founded
a year later. It has enjoyed the efficient services of Presi-
Chap, v.] EDUCATIOX. 481
dent Henry G. Weston from the beginning, and has under
his leadership, and with the generous support of the Crozer
family and others, taken its place side by side with the other
great theological institutions that have been mentioned, all
of which are so excellent that comparisons would be invidi-
ous. It has a staff of 8 and assets worth $594,500.
The founding of the University of Chicago (incorporated
1890, opened 1892) has already been referred to. Presi-
dent William R. Harper, one of the foremost teachers of
oriental languages, with the financial support of John D.
Rockefeller and others, has placed this new institution
alongside of Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins, and Cornell, as
one of the great universities of America. Its property and
endowments now aggregate more than $6,500,000 and
are likely to be largely increased. More than $4,000,000
have been given by the chief founder. The number of
instructors has already reached 162.
Columbian University has gone steadily forward in en-
dowments and usefulness. Although its property and
endowments amount to only a little over $1,000,000, it
enjoys unique facilities from its location in the national
capital. In all departments there are 112 instructors and
900 students. The late President James C. Welling de-
serves much of the credit for the expansion of the work of
the university.
The rest of the colleges founded since 1844 may be
mentioned in alphabetical order. Many of them have fair
endowments and all are doing valuable work. Baylor Uni-
versity, Waco, Texas (1845), has long had at its head Rufus
C. Burleson, a man of marked ability. It has 2 7 instructors,
800 students, and property and endowments valued at
$402,000. Bethel College, Russellville, Ky., has 7 in-
structors and a.ssets of $235,000. Bucknell University,
Lewisburg, Pa. (1846), J. W. Harris president, has a faculty
482 THE BAPTISTS. fPKR. 111.
of 22 and property and endowments valued at $650,000.
California College, Oakland (1874), is presided over by
S. B. Morse, and has a faculty of 9 and assets worth
$107,000. Carson-Newman College, Mossy Creek, Tenn.,
presided over by J. T. Henderson, has a faculty of 10 and
assets worth $104,000. Central University, Pella, low^a
(1858), is prospering under the administration of Presi-
dent John Stuart. Des Moines College, Iowa (1865),
has H. L. Stetson for its president, is affiliated with the
University of Chicago, has 1 1 instructors, and its assets
amount to $180,000. Furman University, Greenville, S. C.
(1852), is presided over by Charles Manly, and has 10 in-
structors and assets valued at $150,000. Howard Payne
College, Brownwood, Texas (1890), has J. D. Robnett for
its president, 13 instructors, and property worth $90,000.
Kalamazoo College, Mich. (1855), has 8 instructors and
assets worth $217,000. La Grange College, Mo. (1866),
J. F. Cook president, has 8 instructors and assets valued
at $50,000. Leland University, New Orleans (1870),
E. C. Mitchell president, has 15 instructors and assets
worth $253,750. Los Angeles College, Cal. (1887), has
8 instructors and assets valued at $55,000. McMinnville
College, Ore. (1859), T. G. Brownson president, has 5 in-
structors and $68,800 worth of assets. Mississippi Col-
lege, Clinton, Miss. (1850), R. A. Venable president, has
7 instructors and $90,000 in buildings and endowments.
Mount Lebanon College, La. (1854), W. C. Robinson
president, has 9 instructors and property valued at $32,-
000. Ottawa University, Kan. (1865), F. W. Colgrove
president, has a staff of 12 and assets equal to $128,640.
Ouachita College, Ark. (1886), is presided over by J. W.
Conger, and has a staff of 14 and assets valued at $72,000.
Sioux Falls University, S, Dak. (1883), has E. D. Meredith
for president, 8 instructors, and assets valued at $43,000.
Chap. V.J EDUCATIOX. 483
Southwestern University, Jackson, Tenn. (1849), G. M.
Savage president, has 7 instructors and property and en-
dowments valued at $142,500. William Jewell College,
Liberty, Mo. (1849), J. P. Greene president, has 12 in-
structors and assets valued at $303,629.
The number of ladies' colleges and seminaries is too great
for even brief mention. Vassar College, Poughkeepsie,
N. Y. (1861), occupies a position so unique that it may
well be singled out for special mention. It ranks in en-
dowment, equipment, and in the grade and quality of its
work with the best colleges for men. It has a staff of 45,
and property and endowments amounting to $1,941,956,
due chiefly to the benefactions of the Vassar family. The
present head of the institution, James M. Taylor, ranks
high among the educators of the country.
The Regular Baptists of America have 7 theological
seminaries, besides theological departments in several of
the colleges; 36 universities and colleges; 32 ladies' sem-
inaries of various grades ; 47 coeducational seminaries and
academies; and 31 institutions for colored people and In-
dians. The aggregate value of educational property and
endowments exceeds $33,000,000.
CHAPTER VI.
DIVISIONS AND PARTIES, AND CONCLUDING REMARKS.^
It is probable that no large denomination in America
has suffered less from disharmony in doctrine and practice
than the Baptists. Yet from the earliest time differences
arose, and disunion sometimes resulted.
The anti-missionary schism in the present period has
already been referred to. The anti-missionary parties,
under various names, still set themselves in opposition to
the spirit of the gospel and the spirit of the age in the
regions which they occupied fifty years ago. They have
manifested remarkable vitality and their actual numbers
do not seem to have materially decreased ; but the prog-
ress of evangelical Baptists has been so great as to leave
them an insignificant and almost unnoticed minority. Their
protection against the influence of modern evangelical
Christianity is their ignorance ; and they occupy chiefly the
mountainous regions of the South and Southwest, which
civilization is slow in penetrating.-
No Baptist party has labored more assiduously for the
propagation of its distinctive principles than the Seventh-
day Baptists. Their rise in Rhode Island, their early or-
ganizations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and their gain
1 See vols. i. and xii. of the present series ; and works on the various
parties considered as given in the Bibliography.
2 For statistics showing the numbers and distribution of the various sect.s of
anti-missionary Baptists, the reader is referred to vol. i. of the present series,
pp. 45-52.
Chap. VI.] THE SEVEXril-DAY BAPriSTS. 485
of congregations from the Keithian Quaker movement of
the last century, have already been noticed. A large pro-
portion of the old congregations have been maintained, and
some have been added, chiefly by colonization from these
early centers. Thus the church at giscataway, N. J., dis-
missed members in 1735 to form a church at Shiloh, N. J.,
others in 1829 to form one at Hayfield, Pa., and others in
1838 to form a church at Plainfield, N. J. The congrega-
tions in northern, central, and western New York, northern
Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas, and
Nebraska, can be traced to the Rhode Island center, and
all the Rhode Island congregations to that organized in
Newport through the labors of Stephen Mumford, an
Enghsh Sabbatarian, in 167 1. It is said that " the names
of very many of the first Sabbath-keepers in the three
original centers have been preserved to the present time.
Of the eighty-three members of the Newport church in the
first twenty-one years of its history, at least fifty-six have
descendants still bearing their family names in many parts
of the denomination. The same can be said of sixty-four
of the seventy- five members of the Piscataway church in
its first seventeen years. Fully one half of the names
registered in four or five churches near Philadelphia in the
first twenty- five years are well known among the people
who observe the Sabbath in America. This fact is true in
a greater degree in respect to the converts who united with
these churches and their immediate offshoots in the next
fifty years of their growth." This would seem to show
that while converts to Sabbatarianism are made with the
greatest difficulty, once made they are likely to be per-
manent, and their descendants are likely to follow in their
footsteps.
Yearly meetings were an early institution among the
Sabbatarian Baptists. In 1802, at a yearly meeting at
486 THE BArriSTS. ■ [Fkk. III.
Hopkinton, R. I., a General Conference was projected, and
in 1806 it was fully organized. At the former date the
denomination had a membership of 12 15, with 1 1 churches
and 10 ministers. Only eight of the churches united at
first in the General Conference. In 1818 the name
"Seventh-day Baptist" was adopted by the Conference.
The constitution was slightly modified in 1840 and more
materially in 1875. In the earlier form the independence
of the churches was scrupulously guarded ; the amended
form gives to the Conference the right to act as " an ad-
visory council, to which appeals on certain matters can be
made from the churches," and " the power to exclude any
church for want of harmony with the others in faith and
practice." The Conference appoints various boards for the
administration of the work of the denomination.
On the recommendation of the Conference, three Asso-
ciations were formed in 1835, designated as the Eastern,
Central, and Western. The Northwestern, Southeastern,
and Southwestern were afterward added. These Associa-
tions embrace a present membership of over 9000, with
106 churches and 118 ordained ministers.
As early as 1801 a majority of the churches began to
cooperate in home mission work. In 1818 the Conference
formed a Board of Missions, and from that time onward a
number of missionaries were sustained. About 1836 mis-
sion work was undertaken among the Jews of New York
City. This was abandoned about 1842. In 1843 another
missionary society was formed, which in 1847 opened a
mission at Shanghai, China. This mission has been sus-
tained with considerable vigor, and has now a dispensary
with a medical missionary in charge, three da}'-schools and
two boarding-schools, etc. Mission work was attempted
in Palestine (1854 onward), but w^as after a few years aban-
doned. Since 1886 mission work has been done among
Chap, vi.] THK DISCIPLES. 487
the Jews of New York atid of Galicia, Austria. According
to the report of 1890, twenty-nine missionaries at home and
abroad had been supported by the board, wholly or in part,
at an expense of $4578.
A partial endowment of the publishing house of the de-
nomination enables it to distribute gratuitously and other-
wise a large amount of tract and periodical literature, and
this circulation of literature is probably the most effective
agency employed. There is no excuse to-day for igno-
rance as to the views of the Seventh-day brethren, and
Baptist ministers who prefer the Lord's Day to the Jewish
Sabbath do so in the face of all that can be said in favor
of the superior obligation of the latter.
The denomination supports four institutions of learning.
The most important of these is Alfred University, Alfred,
N. Y. It embraces theological, arts, and normal depart-
ments, is open to both sexes, and has an endo\vment of
$1 13,177 (1890) and a library of nearly ten thousand vol-
umes. The other institutions are Milton College, Wis.,
chartered in 1867, Albion Academy, Wis., founded in 1854,
and Salem College, W. Va., which began its work in 1889.
The Expose of Faith and Practice adopted by the
Conference in 1880 is a clear and excellent statement,
which is in entire harmony with Regular Baptist teaching,
except in Article IX., which reads as follows : " W^e believe
the seventh day to be the Sabbath of Jehovah, and that it
should be kept holy as a memorial of creation and a type
of the saints' rest in heaven. Gen. ii. 2, 3 ; Exod. xx. 8-
I I ; Heb. iv. i-i i."
By far the most important schism suffered by the Bap-
tist body in the United States was that of which Alexander
Campbell was the occasion and one of the chief agents.
The events that led to the schism are fully narrated, from
the Disciples' point of view, in vol. xii. of the present series.
488 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. m.
It would not be in accord with tlie purpose of this series
to enter polemically into a discussion of the points of differ-
ence between Baptists and Disciples ; but the importance
of the matter from a Baptist point of view is too great to
admit of its being passed over in silence. The antecedents
of Thomas and Alexander Campbell, including their con-
nection with Scottish sects, and the manifest influence of
Sandemanianism on their modes of religious thought ; their
unsuccessful attempt, on a basis of Christian union and
antisectarianism, to secure a following ; their uniting with
the Redstone Baptist Association (1813); the widespread
propagation of their peculiar views throughout extensive
regions in southwestern Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentuck}',
and Ohio, facilitated by their fellowship with the Baptists ;
the strife and confusion introduced into churches and As-
sociations by the propagation of these views, must be
passed by with this bare notice.
The condition of the Baptist churches in the regions
where the teachings of Campbell made the greatest im-
pression was highly fa\-orable to the rise and progress of
such a movement. One of the ablest Baptist obser\ers
and opponents of the movement enumerates, among the
causes that favored the progress of the so-called " reforma-
tion," " the prexalence of hyper-Cahinistic or antinomian
views in many Baptist churches. Ha\'ing adopted in its
main points the Cahinian theology, they were led by their
system into speculations as unpopular as they were sterile.
To free them from objections and render them acceptable
to their auditors, the pastors spent a large portion of the
time devoted to pulpit labors in their discussion ; and what
occupied so much of their thought grew into exaggerated
importance in their estimation. They seemed to think that
they were called to the ministry for no other purpose than
to proclaim and vindicate a few abstruse and barren points
Chap. \ i.J THE DISCIPLES. 489
of the Calvinistic creed ; but their ministry, excepting- to a
few indoctrinated zealots, was not pleasing". The people
generally, becoming disgusted with such dry and unsatis-
fying speculations, were ready to attend on any ministry
which promised them a more palatable, if not a more nu-
tritious, diet. In churches of this .sort Mr. Campbell found
his way prepared before him " (Jeter, " Campbellism Ex-
amined," pp. 79, 80).
Alexander Campbell was a man of fair education and of
unbounded confidence in his resources and his tenets. He
was possessed of a powerful personality and was one of the
ablest debaters of his age. In the use of caricature and
sarcasm he has rarely been surpassed. Throughout the
regions that he chose for the propagation of his views the
number of Baptist m.inisters who could in any way approach
him in argumentative power or in ability to sway the masses
of the people was very small. The claim that he made to
being the reformer of Christendom and the restorer of " the
ancient gospel," long since buried beneath human tradi-
tions, and his unrelenting and merciless warfare against the
clergy, including the Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist
ministry ; his pronounced opposition to missionary societies
and to all so-called " human institutions " for the propaga-
tion of the gospel ; his repudiation of creeds and his insist-
ence on limiting doctrinal statements to the language of
Scripture ; his repudiation of the requirement of the rela-
tion of one's Christian experience before baptism, which
prevailed in Baptist churches and which was in some re-
spects open to criticism, and his substitution therefor of a
simple acknowledgment of belief that Jesus Christ is the
Son of God as a prerequisite to baptism for the remission
of sins — these and other features of his system proved
highly popular, and there were few^ Baptist churches in
the regions traversed by Campbell and his followers that
490 THE BAPTISTS. [Pkk. hi.
were not more or less affected by his views. The crisis
occurred in 1826 and 1827, when a number of Associa-
tions took action against the encroachments of the new
doctrines and insisted on conformity to the Philadelphia
Confession, which had been recognized as the standard
of orthodoxy by most of the Associations on their or-
ganization.
From this time onward the followers of Campbell as-
sumed the position of a distinct denomination. After the
party had accepted the responsibilities of denominational
life, and especially since the death of Alexander Campbell,
its attitude toward other denominations became less bel-
ligerent. Its representatives no longer stigmatize the min-
istry of evangelical denominations as "priests," "popes,"
" cardinals," " textuaries," " scrap-doctors," " goat-milk-
ers," etc. ; they no longer denounce ministers who receive
salaries as " hirelings " ; they no longer stigmatize Baptist
and other evangelical churches as " the legitimate daugh-
ters of that mother of harlots, the Church of Rome " ;
they no longer teach that " an attempt to convert pagans
and Mohammedans to believe that Jesus is the Son of God,
and the sent of the Father, until Christians are united, is
also an attempt to frustrate the prayer of the Messiah, to
subvert his throne and government," or assert that the
Bible " gives us no idea of a missionary without the power
of working miracles," but, on the contrary, carry on ag-
gressive missionary work in pagan and Mohammedan lands ;
they no longer caricature solemn services in which Baptist
missionaries are set apart for work among the heathen, or
seek to throw suspicion on the honesty of those who collect
and administer missionary funds by speaking of " the mis-
sionary plan " as, " in many instances," " a system of iniq-
uitous peculation and speculation," or by characterizing the
modern missionary method as " the plan of saving the world
CiiA!'. \i.] THE DISCIPLES. 4^1
by means of money and science ; of converting pagans by
funds raised indirectly from spinning-wheels, fruit-stalls,
corn-fields, melon patches, potato lots, rags, children's
playthings, and religious newspapers consecrated to mis-
sionary purposes " ; they no longer speak of Bible societies
and other benevolent organizations as " fashionable proj-
ects " that " deserve no more regard from sober Christians,
Christians intelligent in the New Testament, than the va-
■ garies, the febrile flights of patients in an inflammatory
fever " ; they no longer caricature the Christian experiences
that are related in evangelical churches as a condition of
receiving baptism ; they no longer repudiate Christian in-
stitutions of learning as unauthorized by Scripture, but
they cherish noble institutions in which theology, as well
as the arts and sciences, is taught to those who have de-
voted themselves to the ministry ; they have ceased to
speak contemptuously of the intellectual abilities and the
Christian character of all who oppose their views.
It is only fair to say that the belligerency was by no
means confined to Campbell and his followers. The polem-
ical spirit was active at that time, and especially in the
Southwest, and hard hits were received as well as gi\-en
by the advocates of " the ancient gospel " ; but they were
the aggressors, and in attempting to overthrow a system
to which they had voluntarily and with their eyes open
attached themselves, and in struggling with all their might
to remain in the fellowship of a body whose principles and
practices they unsparingly condemned, they could scarcely
have expected milder treatment at the hands of churches
and Associations whose principles were in jeopardy. No
denomination could have tolerated within its pale a party
that antagonized with such bitterness its ministry and its
cherished doctrines.
If the Baptists of the Southwest had been in the third
492 THE BAPTISTS. [Pkr. hi.
decade of the century what Baptists are to-day — if they
had been more intelHgent and had possessed an educated
ministry, if they had laid as Httle stress on confessions of
faith as Baptists do at present, if they had taught as evan-
geHcal a form of doctrine as that taught by the mass of the
denomination to-day, if the missionary spirit had been as
active then as now — it would have been impossible for
such a movement as that led by Campbell to have arisen
or to have gained such a following as it did. It is not im-
probable that the influence of this party has been one
among many causes that have led to the prevalence among
Baptists of a more evangelical type of doctrine and the
proper subordination of confessions of faith to Scripture ;
but in this transformation the advance of education has
been the chief factor, and the pervasive influence of the
liberal movement in theology in Europe and America has
no doubt been greater tlian that of the Disciples. Tlie in-
fluence of Methodism and Cumberland Presbyterianism in
this direction has also, no doubt, been very considerable.
Baptists and Disciples are to-day far nearer to harmony
than were the Baptists of 1830 and Alexander Campbell.
The two denominations have existed side by side for the
last sixty years, mutually influencing each other. The
Disciples, as above remarked, have abandoned much tl^at
was most objectionable in the method and substance of tlie
teachings of the founder of the denomination, and the Bap-
tist teaching and practice of the present is far less obnox-
ious to criticism than it was at the time of the schism. A
desire for union has often been expressed by representa-
tives of both denominations, and it is earnestly to be de-
sired that the time may soon come when there shall be
such harmony of doctrine and practice as would furnish a
true basis for an organic union. At present Baptists are
constrained, by careful study of Disciples' literature and
Chap, vi.] BAPTISTS A. YD DISCIPLES. 493
observation of their practice, to regard the position of Dis-
ciples as unsatisfactory in the following particulars: I. In
the stress laid upon baptism and the way in which it is
connected with the remission of sins. 2. In representing
faith as too exclusively an intellectual act of belief in the
divine sonship of an historical personage. 3. In eliminat-
ing, or not sufficiently emphasizing, the emotional element
in conversion. 4. In not sufficiently emphasizing the doc-
trines of grace, or, in other terms, inclining toward Pelagian
or Arminian rather than Augustinian or Calvinistic concep-
tions of theology and anthropology. Baptists have the
impression that the Disciples unduly limit the operations of
the Holy Spirit in asserting that he operates only through
the Word ; but if by "Word" we understand the Divine
Logos who was active in the creation, who enlightens every
man that cometh into the world, and who became flesh and
tabernacled among us, the statement seems unobjectionable.
It is probably true, however, that many individual Baptists
and many individual Disciples are in close agreement in
their conceptions of divine truth ; and there are certain
irenical statements set forth by leaders of the Disciples
with which Baptists would find little fault. The brief
confession of faith by Alexander Campbell (copied in \()1.
xii. of the present series, pp. 103, 104) is almost unobjec-
tionable from a Baptist point of view. But he simply as-
serts his belief in the authority and perpetuity of baptism,
without defining its nature or purpose. A still more sat-
isfactory confession, from the Baptist point of view, is that
of Isaac Errett (copied in the same work, pp. 104-106).
It contains nothing that is positively objectionable. It is
what these writers omit to say rather than what they say
in these statements that prevents Baptists and Disciples
from harmonizing. An objectionable feature of Alexander
Campbell's teachings is his denial of the duty of the unbap-
494 77/A BAPriSTs. [PiiK. 1,1.
tized to engage in prayer, praise, or other acts of devotion,
on the ground that these belong only to those who have
been pardoned and accepted; and that "immersion" is
" the first act of a Christian's life, or, rather, the regen-
erating act itself."
The schism was precipitated by the exclusion of the
followers of the Campbells from the Redstone (Pa.) A.sso-
ciation in 1826 and from the Beaver (Pa.) Association in
1829. Owing to the unsympathetic attitude of a majority
of the members of the former Association, Alexander Camp-
bell had some time before transferred his membership to
the Mahoning (O.) Association, a majority of whose mem-
bers favored his principles. Four churches withdrew and
joined with the Bea\er Association in condemning the
views of Campbell and in excluding his followers from
fellowship. In 1829 the Mahoning Association was dis-
solved " as an advisory council or an ecclesiastical tribunal,"
and this event is said to have consummated the separation
of Campbell and his followers from the Baptists. Many
other Associations soon took action similar to that of the
Redstone and the Beaver. The growth of the " Disciples "
party was very rapid, and large numbers of Baptists, Pres-
byterians, and Methodists were won to its support. Bap-
tists soon recovered measurably from the shock and ha've
steadily advanced in the regions covered by the activity of
the Disciples. It is probable that the cause of antipedo-
baptism and of immersion gained largely from the schism.
That it may speedily come to an end with no sacrifice of
truth should be the earnest prayer of Baptists and Disciples
alike.
" Old-Landmarkism " is a term that has been used to
characterize a Baptist party that has had a large following
in the Southwest, and whose principal leader was the late
J. R. Graves, from 1846 editor of " The Tennessee Baptist."
Chai'. \'i.] OLD-LAXDMARKISM. 495
Graves was one of the ablest polemicists of the age, re-
minding one strikingly of Alexander Campbell in his
methods and resources. This movement was no doubt a
product of the controversial spirit that pervaded the South-
west, of which the Disciples movement was itself both effect
and cause. The distinguishing features of the Old- Land-
mark system are the zealous advocacy of Baptist apostolic
succession, insistence on the necessity of properly author-
ized administrators of baptism to the validity of the ordi-
nance and consequent refusal to recognize as valid baptism
administered by a pedobaptist, and refusal to recognize
pedobaptist organizations as churches or their ministers as
properly authorized preachers of the gospel. If the Old-
Landmarkers had gone a step farther, and had refused to
have fellowship with those who accepted " alien immer-
sion," recognized pedobaptist organizations as churches,
and exchanged pulpits with their ministers, they would
have inevitably formed a sect. Fortunately their convic-
tions have not carried them to this extreme.
We left the Free-will Baptists in what certain of their
own writers have termed the period of the " Judges."
Randall had died in 1808, and so much of disharmony at
once manifested itself among his followers that concerted
action was for some time impracticable. Elias Smith and
Abner Jones sought to bring about a fusion of the denomi-
nation with the " Christians." This policy was strenuously
opposed by John Buzzell in his " Religious Magazine," and
otherwise ( 1 8 1 1 onward). The most energetic and success-
ful worker of the early part of the period was John Colby,
who from 1809 till his early death in 181 7 e\'angelized with
remarkable zeal throughout the States already occupied by
the denomination, and planted the Free-will standard in
Rhode Island. From 1820 to 1830 the Free-will Baptist
cause made rapid progress in Massachusetts, Connecticut,
496 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. in.
and Rhode Island, and extended its conquests to New
York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, and other parts of the
West and South. The remnants of the General Baptists
of North Carolina were brought into fraternal relations
with the denomination, and a correspondence was estab-
lished with the English General Baptists. Some of the
Six Principle churches of Rhode Island entered into frater-
nal relations with this more aggressive party. A number
of churches were planted in the British provinces through
the zealous efforts of Free-will evangelists. By 1830 the
denomination had 450 churches, with a membership of
21,000. Twenty Quarterly Meetings and seven Yearly
Meetings were sustained.
In 1827, after much preliminary negotiation, representa-
tives of several of the Yearly Meetings assembled at Tun-
bridge, Vt., to take into consideration the propriety of
organizing a General Conference. A week's discussion
led to no agreement as to the functions of such a body;
but Conferences were held from year to year, brotherly
love was cultivated, and by 1833 such a degree of harmony
had been reached as enabled the body to set forth " A
Treatise on the Faith of the Free-will Baptists." In 1841
the Conference adopted a " Constitution and By-Laws."
The utmost diversity of opinion had manifested itself as to
the powers that should be bestowed upon the Conference.
One party laid chief stress on church independency and
shrank from intrusting disciplinary power to the Confer-
ence; the other party felt the need of such a check to ex-
treme independency as an authoritative bod}-, constituted
of delegates of the churches, would furnish. The consti-
tution as adopted represents a compromise between the
independents and the advocates of interdependence. Arti-
cle VIII. reads as follows : " This Conference shall have the
right to discipline, and, if necessary, exclude such Yearly
Chap, vi.] FREE-WILL BATTLSTS.
497
Meetings and Associations as may be connected with it ;
but in no case shall it have power to reverse or change the
decisions of churches, Quarterly Meetings, or Yearly Meet-
ings, or any other religious bodies." For a number of
years many of the churches looked with suspicion on the
Conference ; but it gradually won its way and has proved
itself one of the most effective agencies of the denomi-
nation.
"The Morning Star," which first appeared in 1826, was
from the beginning a promoter of the Conference and its
objects, and has been published continuously to the present
time. A number of other periodicals were published be-
fore and have been published since, but this is the most
influential publication of the denomination.
In 1833, under the promptings of the English General
Baptists, steps were taken toward the inauguration of for-
eign mission work, and in 1837 a mission was opened in
northern India that has been well sustained to the present
time.
From 1839 onward the denomination took a decided
stand in opposition to slavery and thereby excluded itself
from eff"ective work in the South. In 1841 the Conference
so broadened its basis of fellowship as to take in a number
of Arminian and open-communion Baptist churches and
parties in New York, Pennsylvania, and Canada. It was
decided to welcome these bodies without change of name,
and that thenceforth " Free Baptists, Free-Communion
Baptists, Free-will Baptists, and Open- Communion Bap-
tists " should be regarded as " designating the same
people."
Most of the churches had been formed by evangelists,
who, after laboring for a few weeks in a community,
hurried on to e\angelize in other places. In the absence
of a settled ministry it was customary in the earlier stages
498 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. iit.
of the movement for the churches to appoint " ruhng
elders," who assumed the responsibihty of conducting the
services and guiding the flock. From 1819 onward there
was a growing sentiment against this office, many doubt-
ing its Scriptural authorization. The result was that the
churches were left in a deplorably neglected condition.
The evangelistic spirit so prevailed among the ministers
that there was little disposition to settle down as pastors
of congregations. Their evangelistic tours were planned
independently and there was no certainty that individual
communities would be visited with any degree of regular-
ity. A regulated itineracy became a practical necessity.
The question of ministerial support soon came to be a
burning one. Randall had supported himself by working
at his trade, and nearly all the early ministers of the de-
nomination were uneducated men who maintained them-
selves by farming or other secular avocations. The same
causes that led the Regular and Separate Baptists to look
with disfavor on a paid ministry were operative with the
Free-will Baptists. The cities and towns were for the most
part neglected. Lack of culture on the part of the minis-
ters was doubtless the chief reason for their failure to oc-
cupy the great centers of influence. The importance of an
educated ministry was not duly appreciated, and ministerial
education was by many looked upon with disfavor. By
1839 the leaders of the denomination had come to feel
that an educated ministry was an indispensable condition
of denominational success. Four leading ministers met
at Farmington, Me., and agreed to call for an educa-
tional convention. Seventy-six ministers responded to
the call. Resolutions were adopted recognizing the fact
that those called of God to the work of the ministry
should be suitably educated, and an education society was
organized.
Chap, vi.] FREE-WILL BAPTISTS. 499
The first educational work attempted was in connection
with the Parsonfield Seminary. A library was purchased
and provision was made for theological instruction. The
work of the educational convention was approved by the
General Conference in 1841, and in 1842 the educational
work was detached from the seminary and transferred to
Dracut, Mass. Up to 1853 "cold neglect and cruel in-
difference " characterized the attitude of the mass of the
denomination toward the educational efiforts of a minor-
ity of its members. . The removal of a Baptist school
from New Hampton left what was regarded as an excel-
lent opening for the Free-will Baptists, and with the coop-
eration of the people of the place $15,000 were raised and
the school was reopened with excellent prospects (1854).
A number of other academies had been opened under de-
nominational auspices, and up to 1856, $220,000 had been
invested in educational enterprises.
In 1855 Hillsdale College, Mich., began its work. It has
been steadily gaining in strength and influence. Bates
College, the chief educational institution of the denomina-
tion, was founded in 1863, having previously existed as
the Maine State Seminary. These institutions are at pres-
ent the pride of the connection and are supported with
zeal and liberality. A large number of schools of lower
grade, some of them called colleges, are conducted under
the auspices of the body.
At an early date the denomination took a decided stand
against slavery and freemasonry, and in favor of Sunday-
schools and temperance.
The chief obstacles to union with the Baptists would
seem to be the aggressive open-communion position and
the Arminian teaching of the Free-will Baptists, or, from
the opposite point of view, the restricted-communion prac-
tice and the Calvinistic doctrine of the Baptists. It is prob-
500 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
able that differences on the communion question would
at present be by far the more obstinate element in any
effort to harmonize the two denominations.
The statistics for the year ending September, 1893, are
as follows: Yearly Meetings and Associations, more than
50; Quarterly Meetings, 201; churches, 1547; ordained
ministers, 1338; church-members, 82,694 ;^ contributions
to home and foreign missions and education, $53,905.
Unaffiliated with the Free-will Baptists, but in substantial
accord with them, are the Original Free-will Baptists of
North and South Carolina, who are doubtless historically
connected with the Arminian Baptists who first occupied
these regions under the leadership of Paul Palmer and
Joseph Parker, and who now number about 12,000; the
General Baptists of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri,
Nebraska, and Tennessee, who number about 22,000; the
Separate Baptists of Indiana, who number about 1600 ; the
United Baptists of Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mis-
souri, and Tennessee, whose numbers exceed 13,000.
The Baptist Church of Christ, which numbers 8254 com-
municants in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri,
North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, holds to a general
atonement, but seems in general to be nearer to the Bap-
tist position than to that of the Free-will body.
The River Brethren, a Swiss Anabaptist party that
settled in eastern Pennsylvania about 1750, practice trine
immersion, feet-washing, non-resistance, and nonconform-
ity to the world. They are divided into three parties, and
have a membership, according to the census returns (1890),
of 3427. A majority of the congregations are in Penn-
syh'ania, but some are found in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Kansas, Marjdand, Michigan, New York, and Ohio.
1 The numlier of communicants according to the census returns of 1890
is consideraljly larger, namely, 87,898.
Chap. VI.] THE CHRISTIAXS. 501
The Christians agree with the Free-will Baptists in tlieir
Arminian teachings and with the Disciples in their hostility
to creeds. They are at one with the latter in protesting
against sects and yet consenting to add another to the
long list already existing. During the first three or four
years of the present century three independent movements
almost identical in aim and spirit originated in different
parts of the country. In 1801 five Presbyterian ministers
of Kentucky and Ohio, who were taking a leading part in
the great revival of the time, were accused of teaching a
type of doctrine at variance with the Westminster Confes-
sion. Becoming convinced that their views would not be
tolerated, they withdrew and formed the Springfield Pres-
bytery. They not only repudiated the Calvinistic Pres-
byterian creed, but they insisted that the Bible alone is a
sufficient standard of faith and practice, declaring man-
made creeds to be useless and pernicious. They soon
came to feel that their organization of a presbytery was
unauthorized by Scripture and that the entire Presby-
terian system of church government was an impertinence.
The Springfield Presbytery was abandoned and the name
" Christian " adopted as the only proper designation of a
body of believers. Robert Marshall became convinced of
the Scriptural requirement of believers' baptism by immer-
sion. Barton W. Stone attempted to convince him of his
error and was led to the same conviction. They baptized
each other and thus introduced believers' baptism anew.
Churches were organized in Kentucky (1804) on the basis
of believers' baptism and the Bible as the only standard of
faith and practice.
In 1800 Abner Jones, a Baptist of Vermont, became
greatly disturbed " in regard to sectarian names and human
creeds," and gathered a Christian church at Lyndon, Vt.
He was joined by a number of Baptist and Free-will Bap-
502 THE BAPTISTS. [Per. hi.
tist ministers, and within a short time the party had or-
ganizations in most or all of the New England States, New
York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Somewhat earlier (1792) James O'Kelley, a Metliodist
presiding elder of Virginia, came into conflict with Bishop
Asbury and his supporters with respect to the functions of
bishops. Failing to secure the limitation of episcopal au-
thority that he demanded, he withdrew from the denomi-
nation and organized a new party under the name " Re-
publican Methodists." A few years later this designation
was repudiated in favor of the name " Christian," and the
Bible was declared to be the sole and sufficient authority
in faith and practice.
The three " Christian " bodies were soon in fellowship
with one another and a national organization was effected.
Stone and most of his followers united with Alexander
Campbell in his "reform" movement. In 1854, at the
General Convention of the Christians held in Cincinnati,
diff'erences of opinion on the slavery question led the
Southern churches to withdraw. The great majority of
the Christians hold to belie\'ers' baptism by immersion,
but do not make baptism a condition of church-member-
ship. They refuse to set up any doctrinal test for any
purpose whate\'er. The type of their teaching is a some-
what radical form of Arminianism. They are commonly
supposed to incline toward antitrinitarianism ; but the great
majority of them claim to recognize the deity of Christ
while repudiating non-Scriptural formulae with reference
to the persons of the Godhead. The Christians have 1424
churches, with a membership of 103,722 (cf. \'ol. i., pp.
91-94, and vol. xii., pp. 22-33).
"The Church of God," founded in 1830 by John Wine-
brenner, who had been a member of a Reformed German
church in Philadelphia, is essentially Baptist. Sectarian
CnAi\ VI.] OTHBIR BAPTIST PARTIES. 503
names are repudiated. The sufficiency of the Scriptures
without note or comment as a rule of faith and practice
and the immersion of beHevers are insisted upon and con-
stitute the leading- features of the party. The mov^ement
grew out of a revival in which Winebrenner had been in-
strumental in the conversion of many. The denomination
has 479 churches, with a membership of 22,51 1.
The Mennonites, as is well known, are historically closely
related to the Baptists. All agree with Baptists in rejecting
infant baptism, but only a minority practice immersion.
The Dunkards have much in common with anti-mission-
ary (Primitive) Baptists. They insist upon the trine im-
mersion of believers, and practice feet-w^ashing, love-feasts,
the kiss of charity, and nonconformity to the world in the
matter of dress and social demeanor. They have a three-
fold ministry : bishops, ministers, and deacons. A large
proportion of them are opposed to Sunday-schools, min-
isterial education, and missions. The Dunkards ha\-e at
present 989 churches and 73,795 members.
The United Brethren leave the mode of baptism to " the
judgment and understanding of each individual," and " the
baptism of children " " to the judgment of believing par-
ents." How large a proportion of the membership of
the body insist upon believers' baptism by immersion it is
impossible to determine. Most Plymouth Brethren and
Christadelphians, while radically at variance with the Bap-
tist position in many respects, agree with Baptists in reject-
ing infant baptism and in practicing immersion.
Of the 13,900,338 non-Catholic Christian communi-
cants in the United States, 4,604,016, or one third of the
whole, are antipedobaptists, and more than 4,560,000 are
antipedobaptists and immersionists. This estimate takes
no account of Christadelphians, Ph'mouth Brethren, and
United Brethren, and so is within the mark. The figures
504 I'^i^ BAPTISTS. [I'KR. 1,1.
are from the census reports of 1S90 as compiled in vol. i.
of the present series.
During the century ending with 1890 the population of
the United States increased from 3,939,214 to about 63,-
000,000, or about sixteenfold. During the same period
the Baptists increased from 65,345 to 3,717,969, or more
than fifty-sixfold. If other antipedobaptist and immer-
sionist parties were considered, the rate of Baptist increase
would be considerably larger. Thus it appears that from
1790 to 1890 Baptists ha^•e increased nearly four times as
fast as the population. It must also be borne in mind that
Baptists have gained far less from immigration than almost
any other of the larger denominations. Lutherans, Roman
Catholics, Reformed, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians have
profited largely by the great influx of population from
Ireland, Germany, England, Scotland, Italy, and the Scan-
dinavian and Slavonic countries of Europe. Baptist immi-
gration has been insignificant in comparison.
With so large a part of the population of the country
under the influence of Baptists; with prejudices against
their principles in great measure overcome; with principles
in thorough accord with the cherished civil institutions of
the nation ; with a constituency alive to the responsibilities
and the opportunities that come from past success ; with
home and foreign mission societies well organized, in re-
ceipt of large incomes, and face to face with their work ;
with educational institutions of the highest grade widely
distributed throughout the country ; with publication facil-
ities and a religious press that leave nothing to be desired ;
with a fair measure of wealth and social position, and a
firm hold on the middle classes of the population, the
achievements of Baptists during the coming century should
surpass those of the past.
INDEX
A. B. C. F. M., 388.
Adams, John, 358.
Adams, Samuel, 355.
Ainsworth, Henry, 38.
Albion Academy, 487.
Alderson, John, 285, 286.
Alfred University, 487.
Alvoy, Stephen d', 344, 345.
American and Foreign Bible Society,
43O;
American Baptist Congress, the,
479;
American Baptist Education Society,
47O;
American Baptist Historical Society,
479;
American Baptist Home Mission So-
ciety, 420-422.
American Baptist Missionary Union,
469;
American Baptist Publication Society,
427. 475-
American Bible Society, 428.
American Bible Union, 432.
Anabaptists, i ; in the sixteenth cent-
ury, 17; Germany, 19; Switzer-
land, 20 ; Liberia, 22 ; Styria and
Tyrol, 23 ; Augsburg, 23 ; Strass-
Ijurg, 24 ; Hesse, 25 ; Moravia, 26 ;
Transylvania, 27; Miinster, 30;
Italy, 34; Poland, 35; principles,
36.
" Analytical Repository," 384.
Anderson, Martin B., 480.
Antinomians, 97, 109, 120, 122, 129,
199.
Antipedobaptists, 5, 8, 14, 22, 54,
126; law against, 126, 136.
Apostles' Creed, the, 5.
" Appeal to the Public for Religious
Liberty," 353.
Aquidneck, 98, 109.
Arminian, 5, 90, 196, 234, 242, 256,
269, 301, 330.
Armstrong, James, 404.
Arnold 01 Brescia, 14.
Ascherham, Gabriel, 23.
Ashniore, William, 472.
Athanasian Creed, the, 5.
Augustin, 5, 85.
Babcock, Joshua, 263.
Babcock, Stephen, 250.
Backus, Isaac, 247, 249, 251, 261,
265, 348, 352, 356, 35S, 361.
Bailey, W. E., 407.
Baklwin, Thomas, 384, 385, 389, 391.
Baptism, name, i ; principles, i ;
root in the primitive church, 8 ;
casualities of the dark ages, 11 ;
the twelfth century, 13.
" Baptist," the, of Tennessee, 425.
Baptist Association, 349.
Baptist educational institutions, 482.
Baptist General Tract Society, the,
426.
" Baptist Memorial and Monthly
Chronicle," the, 426.
" Baptist Quarterly," the, 426.
Baptist Society for I'ropagating the
Gospel in India and other Foreign
Parts, 391.
Baptists and the magistracy, 127.
Baptists of the twelfth century, 13.
Barebone, P., 49, 52.
Barnett, Joseph, 334.
Baylor University, 481.
505
5o6
INDEX.
Beaver Association, 494.
Bedgewood, Nicholas, 316.
Believers' baptism, 22, 38, 73, 80,
390-
Bell, T. B., 462.
Bellingham, Governor, 184, 189.
Bengali Scriptures, the, 428.
Bennet, Job, 261, 263.
Bethel Association, 314.
Bethel church, the, 342.
Blacklock, 50.
Blake, Humphrey, 223.
Blake, Joseph, 223.
Blood, Caleb, 268.
Blunt, John, 245.
Blunt, Richard, 49.
Board of Tryers, 54.
Bohemian Brethren, 6, 16, 17.
Bolles, Dr., 390, 391, 420.
lioone, Daniel, 2,ZZ^ 343.
Boone, Squire, 2)1)2>-
Boston Female Society for Missionary
Purposes, 384.
Botsford, Edmund, 311, 316, 317.
Boucher, Thomas, 259.
Bound, James, 259.
Boyce, J. P., 462, 466.
Brantly, William T., 307, 381, 392,
404.
Brentwood church, the, 268.
Bright, Edward, 4^4.
Br sbane, John, 309.
Br ad River Association, 314.
Broaddus, Andrew, T^ii,.
Broadus, John A., 466. ■•
Brown, Chad, 84, 88, 94.
Brown, James, 167, 168, 253.
Brown, Nicholas, 263.
Brown University, 261 ; charter, 262
removal to Providence, 264, 3S0.
Browne, Robert, 38.
Bryan, Andrew, 320, 331.
Bucer, 24.
Bucknell University, 481.
Bunyan, John, 53.
Burkitt, Lemuel, 291.
Burleson, Rufus C, 481.
Burmese mission, the, 471.
Burrage, Henry S., 425.
Bushyhead, John, 445.
Callender, Ellis, 195, 196.
Callender, John, 117.
Calloway, Richard, 333.
Calvinists, 5, 86, 198, 239, 256, 301,
488.
Cambridge Platform, 182.
Campbell, Alexander, 441, 488, 490,
495, 502.
Campbell, Jesse H., 411.
" Campbellism Examined," 489.
Capito, 25.
Cardross, Lord, 223.
Carey, Lot, 402.
Carey, William, 55.
Carlstadt, 19, 28.
Carman, Joshua, 339.
Catabaptists, i, 136.
Cedar Creek, 334.
Cent Societies, 384.
Chandler, C. C, 417.
Chaney, Bailey E., 345.
Chanler, Isaac, 308, 309, 368, 380.
Chaplin, Jeremiah, 406, 408.
Charles IL, letter from, 191.
Charleston Association, 310, 316, 381,
407.
Charleston Bible Society, 313.
Charlestown, 222, 224.
Chase, I rah, 396, 399.
Chauncy, Charles, 133, 155, 157.
Chiliastic anabaptism, 20, 37.
Chinese mission, 460.
" Christian Chronicle," the, 424.
" Christian Index," the, 411.
" Christian Messenger," the, 425.
" Christian Reflector," the, 445.
" Christian Secretary," the, 425.
Christian union, 7.
Church, Pharcellus, 424.
Church and state, separation of, 63,
69.
" Church of God," the, 502.
Churchwood, Humphrey, 217, 219.
Clark, John, 343.
Clarke, John, 50, 69, 75, 81 ; birth,
education, arrival at Boston, 96 ; re-
lation to antinomianism, 97 ; settled
at Aquidneck, 98 ; the foundation
act, 100; "111 News from New
England," loi ; the annulment of
Coddington's charter, 104; the
charter of Rhode Island, 105 ; char-
acter, 107; death, 112, 134; theses
for clisi)utation, 137.
IXDEX.
507
Clay, Joseph, 322.
Clayton, Thomas, 207.
" Clementine Recognitions," 9, 10.
Clough, J. E., 470.
Coddington, William, 75, 98, 104,
109, 119, 122.
Coggeshall, 109.
Cohansey, 205.
Colby University, 406.
Colgate University, 479.
Collegiants, 53.
Collins, Henry, 125.
"Columbian Star," the, 400, 423, 427.
Colver, Nathaniel, 444.
Comer, John, 114, 117, 198, 230.
Communism, 26, 27.
Conant, Thomas J., 432.
Condy, Jeremiah, 196, 256.
Cone, Spencer H., 444.
Confession of Faith, October, 1644,
Congaree Association, the, 314.
Connection between American Bap-
tists and Particular Baptists, 50.
Controversy between Roger Williams
and the Massachusetts authorities,
62.
Convention of 1827 (constitution),
404.
Cook, Joseph, 311.
Cooke, John, 112.
Cooper River, settlement on, 221,
222.
Corahism, 182.
Cornelius, John, 205.
Cornell, Joseph, 385.
Correspondence between the Eng-
lish Baptists and the Mennonites of
Holland, 45.
Cote, W. N., 460.
Cotton, John, 62, 66, 68; controversy
with Roger Williams, 70, 120, 121,
138.
Craig, Elijah, 298.
Crandall, Joseph, in, 115, 134, 138.
Cromwell, 54, 75, 113.
Cromwell, William, 423.
Crozer Theological Seminary, 480.
Cuban mission, the, 457.
Cudworth, James, 158.
Cumberland Association, 337, 338.
Curtis, Richard, Jr., 344, 345, 346.
Cyprian, 12.
Uabney, John, 257.
Davis, John, 349, 352.
Davis, William, 207.
Dean, William, 472.
Deane, " History of Scituate," 158.
Denck, 18, 23, 25, 28.
Denison University, 416.
Dexter, Gregory, 85, 86, 87, 91, 112.
Diaz, Alberto J., 457.
Dingley, Richard, 113.
" Disciples," 492, 493.
Dorchester petition, the, 129.
Dorris, Joseph, 337.
Doughty, Francis, 233.
Dover church, the, 281.
Dudley, Ambrose, 337.
Dungan, Elder, 202.
Dunham, 204.
Dunster, Henry, 134; birth and edu-
cation, 139; Confession of Faith,
140; arrival in New England, 141 ;
president, 142; marriage, 144; ori-
ental studies, 145 ; conversion, 146 ;
conference, 152; verdict, 153; res-
ignation, 154; removal, 157; cleath,
161.
Dyke, Daniel, 193.
Eager, J. H., 460.
Easton, 109.
Eaton, Mrs., 232.
Eaton, T. T., 425.
Edes, Philip, 113.
Edisto Island, 228.
Education Fund, 381, 407.
Education Society of the Middle
States, the Baptist, 381.
Edwards, Jonathan, 241.
Edwards, Morgan, 261, 263, 276,
278, 297.
" Elements of Moral Science," 445.
Elk River Association, 338.
Elkhorn Association, 337.
Endicott, Governor, 136.
P^phrata community, the, 209.
Episcopal minister of Charleston, the,
224.
" Examiner," the, 424.
Exclusion of Baptists from all civil
privileges in Massachusetts, 120.
Eyres, Nicholas, 234, 262.
Elyres, Thomas, 263.
5o8
INDEX.
P'aniilism, 121.
Farmington (Southington), 231.
Farnuni, John, 179, 184.
Feeks, Robert, 235.
Findley, Samuel, 280.
First Baptist Churcli of Boston, 174;
confession of faith, 177; fines, 178;
disputation, 179, 182; service upon
Noddle's Island, 186; persecutions,
188; meeting-house, 190, 197, 256.
First Baptist Church of New York, 281
First Baptist Church of Newport, 88,
96; dissensions, 109, 255.
First Baptist Church of Philadelphia,
205.
First Baptist Church of Providence,
80, 83 ; controversies, 85 ; division,
87; history till 1 770, 95; Armin-
ian, 253.
First Colored Baptist Church, 320.
Fishkill church, the, 282.
Ford, Reuben, 370, 371.
Foreign missions, 460, 461.
Foster, Benjamin, 255.
Framingham, 247.
Franklin College, 417.
Free-will Baptists, 270, 495, 499, 501.
Fristoe, Daniel, 287.
Fuller, Andrew, 55.
Furman, Richard, 312, 321, 383, 385,
395. 402.
Gano, John, 280, 281, 284, 295, 311,
335-
Gano, Stephen, 338.
Garcia, Francis, 308.
Gardner, John, 261.
Garrard (Garret), John, 285, 296, 334.
General Association, 367.
General Baptists in England, 38 ; sep-
aration from other separatist con-
gregations, 40; controversies, 41 ;
after 1626 progress, 47; character-
istics, 69, 85.
General Committee of the Georgia
Baptists, 323, 328, 329, 369.
General Meeting of Correspondence,
306.
General Missionary Convention of the
Baptist Denomination in the United
States of America for Foreign Mis-
sions, 393.
Georgetown, 227.
Georgetown College, 417.
Georgia Association, 318.
German Baptists, 470.
Gnosticism, 8, 9, 12.
Going, Jonathan, 416, 419.
Gorton, .Samuel, 76, 99.
Gorton, Stephen, 231.
Gould, Thomas, 157, 174, 175, 176.
Granville, Lord, 225.
Granville Literary and Theological
Institution, 416.
Graves, J. R., 425, 494.
Great Awakening, statistics of the,
271.
Great Valley, 208.
Green, David, 342.
Griffith, Benjamin, 275, 280, 285.
Griffith, Thomas, 208.
Gross, Jacob, 25.
Groton, 231.
Ilackett, Horatio B., 432.
Half-way Covenant, 182, 240.
Hall, Nathaniel, 330.
Hall, Robert, 54, 55.
Hand, J. R., 411.
Haralson, Jonathan, 462.
Harding, 109.
Harper, William R., 481.
Harris, J. H., 481.
Harris, Samuel, 295, 299.
Harris, William, 91.
Hart, Oliver, 278, 309, 316.
Hartwell, J., 407.
Harvard College, 133, 134, 142, 145,
197, 244.
Hascall, Daniel, 409.
Hatzer, Ludwig, 23, 25.
Haverhill, 258, 265.
Hawley, Major, 360.
Hayne, William, 444.
Hays, Edward, 284.
Hazell, John, 138.
Heaton, Samuel, 285.
Helwys, Thomas, 41, 42.
Henry, Nicholas, 121.
Henry, Patrick, 365, 369.
Henry of Lausanne, 13.
Hepzibah Association, the, 434.
" Herald, The Religious," 424.
Hernias, 9.
Hickman, William, 2)^^-
Hicks, Jacob, 258.
IXDEX.
509
Ililnian, W. , 404.
Ilofmann, Melchior, 25, 27.
Hofniannitc's, 28.
Holcombe, Henry, 320, 321, 322, 38'4.
Holliman, Ezekiel, 79, 84.
Holmes, J. L., 460.
Holmes, Obadiah, iii, 112, 131, 134,
138.
Holmes, Obadiah, Jr., 205.
Holston Association, 336.
Hooper, Dr., 408.
Hopewell, 209, 276.
Hovey, Alvali, 480.
Hubbard, Samuel, no, 124, 179,
187.
Hubmaier, 18, 21, 23, 26.
Hulbert, Eri B., 480.
Hull, Elder, 220.
Hut, Hans, 23, 26.
Hutchinson, Mrs. Anne, 97; charac-
ter and teachings, 120.
Huther, Jacob, 23, 27.
Hutherites, 27.
" 111 News from New England," loi,
134-
Ilston, 163.
Immersion, 4, 41, 80, 137, 144, 155,
342, 344, 390, 428.
Imposition of hands, 85, 86, 115, 214.
Indians, the, 61, 64, 144, 197, 292.
Infant baptism, 2, 3, 10, 20, 22, 31,
40, 51, 136.
Irelantl, James, 287.
Jacob, Henry, 48.
Jaret (Garrard), John, 285.
Jefferson, Thomas, 370, 375.
Jenckes, Daniel, 261, 263, 355.
Jenkins, Nathaniel, 212.
Jessey, H., 49, 52, 53.
Johnson, Francis, 38, 48.
Johnson, Thomas, 342.
Johnson, W. B., 406.
Jones, R. S., 262.
Jones, Samuel, 262, 279.
Judson, 389, 394, 419.
Justin Martyr, 9.
Kautz, Jacob, 25.
Keach, Elias, 202, 204.
Kehukee Association, 290, 307.
Keith, George, 206.
Keithian Quakers, 207.
Kentlrick, Nathaniel, 408.
Ketokton Association, 278, 285, 287,
^^ 296, 301, 334, 371.
Key into the Language of America, "
the, 61, 91.
Kiftin, William, 48, 53, 138, 193.
Kiffin Manuscript," the, 52.
Killingsworth, 203.
Kincaid, Eugenio, 409.
Kittery, Me., 197, 216, 220.
Kloster, Gertom, 31.
Knipperdollinck, 32.
Knollys, Hanserd, 51, 52, 203.
Lady Moody, 124, 232.
Langenmantel, Eitelhans, 24.
Lasher, G. W., 425.
Lathrop, John, 48, 158.
" Latter Day Luminary," 400, 423.
Lechford, " Plain Dealing," 144.
Ledbetter, Elder, 294.
Leile (Sharp), George, 320.
Leland, John, 305, 371; letter to
Washington, 372, 375.
Lenthall, Robert, 109, 123.
Leyden, John of, 31.
Lil^erty of conscience, 44, 60, 62, 72 ;
limitations of, 77, 79, 102, 170, 365.
Lincoln, Heman, 420.
Lollardism, 6, 38, 164.
Lord's Supper, the, 11.
Lukar, Mark, 50, iii, 112.
Luther, 18, 19.
Luther, Samuel, 172, 173.
Lyndon, Josias, 261.
Lynn, Benjamin, 334.
Mack, Alexander, 209.
Maclay, Dr. A., 420.
MacVickar, Dr. M., 474.
Madison, James, 370; his amend-
ments, 374.
Maginnis, J. S., 408.
Maine, Baptist organizations in, 269.
Manichjeism, 12.
Manly, Basil, 307.
Manning, James, 253, 261, 265, 278,
304, 311.
Mansfield, 245.
Marbeck, Pilgram, 25, 28.
Marblehead, the land grant at, 66.
Marshall, Abraham, 319, 323.
Marshall, Daniel, 286, 292, 294, 314,
317- 319-
Marshall, William, t,t,2,.
5IO
INDEX.
Martha's Vineyard, 198.
Martin, Thomas, 207.
Mascall's letter, Robert, 184.
Mason, George, 371.
Mason, John, 339.
Massachusetts, the revised law-book
of, 1672, 188.
Massachusetts authorities, character-
ization of, 119.
" Massachusetts Baptist Missionary
Magazine," 384.
Massachusetts Domestic Missionary
Society, 385.
Mather, Cotton, 147, 151, 175, 195.
Matthys, Jan, 29.
Maxwell, Samuel, 172.
Mayhew, Thomas, 198.
Meeting of October 14, 1774, 357.
Melanchthon, 19.
Meli, P. H., 462.
Menno Simons, 33.
Mennonites, t^^, 38, 42, 45, 231, 232.
Mercer, Jesse, 319, 321, 323, 326,
410.
Mercer, Silas, 319.
Mercer University, 329.
Methodists, 7, 304, 330.
Miami Association, 339.
Middleljorough, 252.
Middletown, 204.
Miller, Benjamin, 281, 284.
Milton, John, 54, 105, 140.
Mintz, Caspar, 289.
Missions among the Germans, 458.
Mitchell, 147, 148, 150.
Moore, Matthew, 320.
Moravian Brethren, 6, 7, 315.
Morgan, Abel, 205, 212, 279.
Morse, Zenas, 409.
Moulton, Ebenezer, 199.
Mount Enon Academy, 321, 328.
Mumford, Stephen, no.
Miinster, 30.
Miinzer, Thomas, 18, 19.
Murphy, William, 299.
" Murjihy boys, the," 295.
Murton, John, 42.
Musick, Thomas R., 343.
Myles, John, 162 ; life in Wales, 163 ;
arrival at Rehoboth, 167; arraign-
ment, 168; settled at Swansea, 169;
death, 172.
Narragansett Bay, 62.
"Narrative" of Elder Russell, the,
112.
New Design church, 341.
" New England's First Fruits," 143.
New Hampshire Association, the, 268.
j New Lights, the, 243, 249, 254, 256,
380.
I New London, 231.
! " New York Baptist Register," the,
424.
New York Baptists, statistics of, 283.
" New York Chronicle," the, 424.
" New York Recorder," the, 424.
Newman, Samuel, 131.
Newport, 88, 96, 109, 116.
Newton Theological Institution, 480.
Nicene Creed, the, 5.
Nordin, Robert, 230.
Northrup, George W., 480.
Cakes, Urian, 189.
Oath of the unregenerate, the, 66.
Oglethorpe, General, 315.
Okison, 204.
" Old Baptist Banner," the, 438.
" Old-Landmarkism," 494.
Olmstead, J. W., 42^.
Olney, Thomas, 84, 85, 87, 88.
Oncken, J. G., 470.
Paine, Solomon, 250.
Painter, of Hinghani, 125.
Palestine, mission work in, 486.
Palmer, Paul, 289, 307, 500.
Parker, Daniel, 398.
Parker, Joseph, 289, 307, 500.
Particular Baptists in England, 48 ;
conferences and split, 51; Confes-
sion cf Faith, 52 ; approachment
between General and Particular
Baptists, 55, 193.
Peartt, William, 228.
Peck, John M., 397, 413, 423.
Peckham, William, 113.
Pedobaptists, 136.
Peedee River, settlement on, 229.
Pelot, Francis, 316.
Penfield, Josiah, 411.
Penn, William, 201.
Pennepek, 202, 211.
Peter de Bruys, 13.
Peter Chelcicky, 15.
Peter the Venerable, 13.
IXDEX.
511
Phelps, S. D., 425.
Philip of Hesse, 25.
Piscataqua, 203.
Plymouth settlement in its relation to
Salem colony, 119, 162, 168.
Port Royal Island, 223.
Powell, Vavasour, 54, 163, 166.
Pratt, John, 416.
' ' Presentment by the Grand Inquest, "
1652, 132.
" Primitive Baptist," the, 438.
Proctor, John, 257.
Proud, Thomas, 163.
Providence, foundation of, 74 ; First
Baptist Church, 80, 'ii^, 85, 160.
Pugh, Evan, 311.
Puritans' conception of the Baptists,
the, 122.
Quakers, 78, 82, 112, 115, 158, 191,
200, 206, 229.
Quincy, 143.
Randall, Benjamin, 269.
Rebaptism, 16, 18, 41, 136.
Red River Association, 338.
Reforming Synod, the, 191.
Regenerate membership, 3, 79.
Rehoboth, 131, 132, 251, 257.
Reynolds, J. L., 408.
Rhode Island, foundation of, 74 ; rec-
ognition by the English govern-
ment, 75; the foundation act, 100;
the annulment of Coddington's
charter, 104 ; the charter of Rhode
Island, 105, 160.
Rhode Island College, 253, 260, 265,
311-
Rhynsburgers, 53.
Rice, Luther, 390, 392, 399, 405,
427.
Richards, Lewis, 311.
Richmond Baptist African Mission-
ary Society, 402.
Rink, Melchior, 26.
Ripley, Henry J., 400.
Rish worth, Edward, 219.
River Brethren, 500.
Roberts, Edward, 159.
Roberts, George, 367.
Roberts, John M., 407.
Robertson, Robert, 54.
Robinson, John, 1 18.
Rockefeller, John D., 477.
Rothmann, Bernard, 30.
Russell's " Narrative," 193.
Rutter, Thomas, 207.
Ryland, Robert, 415.
Sabbatarians, iii, 214, 486.
Salem colony in its relation to Plym-
outh settlement, 1 19.
Salem Quarterly Court, 1642, 124;
1644, 124; 1646, 125.
Saluda Association, 314.
Sanders, B. M., 412.
Sands, William, 424.
Sandy Creek, 314, 336.
Sanford, S. P., 412.
Sayle, William, 222.
Schwenckfeldt, 22, 121.
Scioto Association, 339.
Scituate, 158.
Screven, William, 216, 218, 220, 221,
227, 309.
Scripture as the norm of faith, 2, 4.
Scott, Richard, 84.
Sears, Barnas, 409.
Second Baptist Church of Boston,
^ 257, 349.
Seekonk disturbance, the, 130.
Selby, Thomas, 208, 212.
Separate Baptists in Virginia, 298,
300; Confession, 301.
Seventh-day Baptists, 110, 204,
486.
Severn's Valley, 334.
Sharp, David, 469.
Sherwood, Dr. A., 410.
Sicke P'rierichs, 33.
" Signs of the Times," the, 438.
Silver Creek Association, 340.
Simmons, Thomas, 228.
Six Principle Baptists, 87, 91, iii,
116, 198, 257.
Skinner, Thomas, 113, 192.
Slavery, 305, 374-
Smith, Ebenezer, 350, 351.
Smith, Hezekiah, 259, 263, 265, 266,
269, 278.
Smith, James, 341.
Smith, John (U. S. Senator), 339.
vSrnith, Ralph, 118.
Smyth, John, 39, 80.
Socinianism, 45, 239.
Sojourner, William, 289.
Somerton, 218.
512
rXDEX.
Southern Baptist Theological Semi-
nary, 465.
Southern Baptists, separate organiza-
tion of, 451.
Southern State conventions, 447.
Southington, 231.
Spilsbury, John, 49, 138.
Spur, John, 138.
Spurgeon, Charles H., 54.
Squire, Philip, 190, 192.
Stanford church, the, 282.
Statistics of 18 12, 379.
Statistics of home missions, 455.
Staughton, William, 280, 382, 385,
417.
Stearns, Shubael, 286, 292, 296.
Stiles, Ezra, 261.
Stillman, Samuel, 256, 263, 309, 311,
35o> 361.
Stoll, David, 309.
Stone, Barton W., 502.
Storch, Nicholas, 19, 20, 22.
Strassburg, tolerance of, 24.
Sturbridge, 245.
Sutton, John, 339.
Swansea, 16S, 190, 198, 253, 257.
Sweden, missions in, 470.
Tackamason, John, 198.
Talbot, Matthew, 330.
Tate's Creek, 335.
Taylor, G. B., 460.
Taylor, John, 337.
" Teacher," the, 462.
Teague, Collin, 402.
Tennent, Gilliert, 241.
Tennent, William, 241.
Tertullian, 9, 1 1.
Thomas, David, 286, 296.
Tinsley, David, 330.
Tinsley, Thomas, t,t,t,.
Titicut, 248.
Tiziano, 34.
Tobey, T. W., 460.
Tombes, John, 53.
Tookey, Elias, 46.
Torrey, Joseph, III, 1 12.
Tuckaseeking, 316.
Turner, William, 180, 186, 189.
Unitarianism, 240.
'■ United Baptist Churches of Christ,
in Virginia," 302.
" United Baptists " in Kentucky, 335.
" United Colonies of New England,
The," 141.
Unregenerate, the, 65, 68, 72.
Van Home, 356.
Vane, Sir Henry, 74, 92, 121.
Vassar College, 483.
Vaughan, William, 91, iii.
Vermont Baptist churches, 268.
Wabash District Association, 340,
341-
Wade, Jonathan, 409.
Waldenses, 6, 15, 17.
Waldo, Samuel, 282.
Walker, Jeremiah, 330, 367.
Waller, John, 296, 298.
Wallingford, 231.
Ward, Samuel, 261, 263.
Warren Association, the, 26;, 278,
348, 357, 380.
Washington's reply to Leland's letter,
373-
" Watchman, The Christian," 423.
Wayland, H. L., 424, 447.
Weeden, William, ill, 112.
Welch, James E., 397, 423.
Welsh Baptists, 162.
Welsh Tract church, the, 208, 229,
230.
Wesley, John, 6, 47, 241.
West, Nat., 125.
W^estern Baptist Theological Insti-
tute, 417.
"Western Recorder," the, 425, 445.
Westminster Confession, Baptist re-
cension of the, 55.
Weston, Henry G., 481.
Wheaton, Ephraim, 172.
Wheelwright, John, 120.
Whitaker, John, -^,11.
White, Daniel, 113, 115.
White, Esther, 246.
White, Thomas, 230.
Whitefield, 47, 241, 242, 244, 269,
292, 309.
Whitman, S. S., 409.
Wickenden, William, 85, 89, 112, 233.
Wickes, Benjamin, 385.
Wiclifism, 6.
Wiedemann, Jacob, 26.
Wightman, Daniel, 235.
Wightman, Valentine, 231, 234, 257.
Willard, Samuel, 194.
INDEX.
513
Willet, Captain, 169.
Williams, John, 298, 300, 367.
Williams, Roger, birth, studies, pros-
pects in England, 59 ; arrival in
New England, 60 ; Boston, Salem,
Plymouth, 61 ; " The Key into the
Language of America," 61 ; ban-
ished, settles at Narragansett Bay,
62 ; review of the controversy, 64 ;
ideas of relation between church
and state, 70 ; controversy with Cot-
ton, 71 ; foundation of Rhode Isl-
and, 74 ; recognition by the English
government, 75 ; limitations of the
liberty of conscience, 77 ; rebap-
tized, 79 ; foundation of the first
Baptist church in America, 80 ;
doubts, 81 ; relation to Dexter, 92.
Willoughby, Francis, 184.
Wilson's declaration, 182.
! Winebrenner, John, 502.
! Winslow's " Brief Narration," 132.
Winsor, Samuel, 253.
Winthrop, Governor, 121, 144.
Witter, William, 124, 135.
Woman's Baptist mission societies,
Wonder-Working Providence,"
142.
Yale College, 244.
I Yates, M. T., 460.
; Yates, Thomas, 284.
' " Yearly Association," 1729, 116.
Yoruba mission, 460.
Young People's Union of America,
the Baptist, 478.
Zell, 24.
" Zion's Advocate," 425.
Zwickau, 19.
I Zwingli, 20.